


You're a Parent, Severus

by acmparker



Series: You're a Parent, Severus [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Harry Potter was raised by Remus Lupin and Severus Snape, Lily Potter and Severus Snape have a blood bond, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Severitus | Severus Snape is Harry Potter's Parent, Severus Snape Adopts Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 21:25:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 31,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16773220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acmparker/pseuds/acmparker
Summary: When Lily got home from her first year at Hogwarts, she found a new distance between herself and Petunia. As a result Severus and Lily became even closer to each other over that summer. The next year Lily found a book in the Hogwarts Library that describe an ancient ritual for creating a blood bond that would make two unrelated people kin. She convinces Severus to undergo the ritual with her and they become brother and sister. This means that when Lily dies there is another whose blood relationship with her is recognized by the blood ward Dumbledore places on Harry. To Severus Snape's chagrin he finds himself the last line of defense between Harry and the forces of the Dark Lord.





	1. Reluctant Adoption

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my son and daughter for their help in creating this work.

“Now that I’ve vowed to protect him what have you done with Lily’s son?” Severus Snape glared at Albus Dumbledore across the Headmaster’s desk. He had been quite content to molder in Azkaban, it was no more than he deserved after all, but the interfering old fool had convinced the Minister of Magic to have him released and kept after him until he had agreed to the aforementioned vow. Snape had only agreed because he knew that was what Lily would have wanted. After all she had given her life for the little brat.

“You don't need to worry about that yet, my boy. Harry’s safe, perfectly safe, I have personally made sure of that. Now dear boy in regards to _your_ safety and future employment, I need a new Potions Instructor since Slughorn is retiring at the end of this school year. If you take the position you will be admirably placed to watch over Harry when he starts school. Why don't you take some time to recover from your stay in Azkaban and prepare for classes to start. Maybe a visit to St. Mungos to see a mind healer would be in order. I'll expect you back here at the end of the summer.”

“What do you mean I don't need to worry about it? How can I protect the Potter brat if you won't even tell me where he is?” Snape was getting increasingly frustrated with the Headmaster's games.

“My dear boy, the child doesn't need your protection yet because he is protected by a very old and powerful magic. A magic that will keep him safe and undetected by any who would do him harm until he comes to Hogwarts in 10 years time. The power of Lily’s sacrifice and the blood wards raised by it will be sufficient to protect him as long as he is living with her family.” Albus’ rambling was interrupted by an exclamation from Snape.

“You left him with Petunia and her oaf of a husband!? Are you bloody mad! I wouldn’t trust a dog I liked to that woman.” Severus couldn’t believe his ears.

“Now Severus my dear boy, Petunia will love Harry, just as she loved Lily. She wrote me a letter when Lily came to Hogwarts begging to be allowed to come as well. She loved her sister too much to want to be seperated from her. I was sorry to have to disappoint her, it obviously meant to much to her.”

“She wanted to come to Hogwarts because she was jealous of Lily’s magic and it just got worse as she got older. She hated Lily in the end. And the muggle she married is even worse, he hates and fears anything he doesn’t understand. They both called me a freak the last time we met.”

“Now, now, dear boy, you must be mistaken. They’re Harry’s family. They will love him more than anyone else could. I’m sure he will be happy there. And it will be better for him to grow up in the muggle world. In the wizarding world everyone knows his name, there will be books written about him. It would be enough to turn any boy’s head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won’t even remember! He’ll be much better off growing up away from all that until he is ready to take it.” Albus smiled at Severus gently.

Snape realized that nothing he could say would change Dumbledore’s mind about Harry’s fate. The old wizard was sure his arrangement’s were for the best and that was that. “I think that I had better go see if my house is still standing. I have a lot of things to take care of.”

“Of course my dear boy, I will expect you back here at the end of August to get ready for the new school year.” Dumbledore twinkled at the younger man as they said their goodbyes.

**********************************************

A few hours later Snape stood at the end of the driveway at 4 Privet Drive dressed in muggle clothing. He was just going to check in on Harry, maybe threaten Petunia a bit. Make sure that she knew that there was someone watching out for the boy. If he checked up on things every so often that should prevent the Dursley’s from treating the Potter brat too poorly. Snape smiled thinly. It had been a long time since he had last seen Petunia but he was sure that she hadn’t improved at all. He was going to enjoy making her regret the way she had treated him when they were children.

The wizard strode up the driveway to the front door and pounded on it, wand in hand. “Who’s there? I’m coming, I’m coming, no need to knock the door down.” The door was jerked open by a large beefy man with blond hair who gaped at Snape.

“Vernon Dursley, I would say it was a pleasure to see you again but I don’t feel like lying today. Are you going to invite me in?” Snape smiled unpleasantly at the man as he pushed his way into the house.

“Vernon dear, who was at the door?” Petunia came into the room and stopped short. “You! What are you doing here you freak!” She exclaimed.

“Hello, Tuney, I’m here on behalf of Albus Dumbledore to do a welfare check on Harry Potter. You didn’t think that we would leave him here without checking on him every now and then, did you? Now where is the child?” Snape pulled on his years of experience as a Death Eater to project as much menace as he could in a few short sentences. He smiled as Petunia paled.

“You can’t see him. He’s asleep and I won’t have you waking him up.” Petunia managed to get out but her eyes flicked over toward the cupboard under the stairs as she spoke. Snape frowned. Surely he was mistaken, even Petunia wouldn’t put a child, a baby, in a cupboard. With a flick of his wand, Severus opened the locked cupboard and looked down on the toddler lying huddled on the thin mattress within. The baby had messy dark hair and looked up at Snape with teary green eyes. The man felt a shock run through him as he looked into those eyes that were so much like Lily’s. He crouched down and spoke to the boy.

“Hello Harry, I was a friend of your Mother’s and I’m going to take you away from here, if you would like me too.” Severus hadn’t even realized he had made that decision until he spoke but he knew he couldn’t leave the child with people who thought it was ok to lock him in a cupboard and leave him to cry. Harry wordlessly reached up to Snape. The wizard picked up the toddler and looked over at the Dursleys. “I’m taking Harry with me. You will never see him or me again.” Snape stuck out his hand “Accio Harry’s nappies.”

Catching the diapers that came flying into his hand, Snape turned and left the house, slamming the door behind him so hard that the glass broke. Petunia and Vernon stared after him for a moment and then Vernon spoke. “Better start packing Pet, I’m taking that job offer on the continent first thing tomorrow morning. I’ve had enough of that lot coming and interfering with our lives.” Petunia agreed fervently and went to check on Dudley before starting to pack.

**********************************

When Snape arrived back at his house on Spinner’s End, he put Harry down on the dingy sofa in the small sitting room. He could tell by the smell that his first task would be to change the baby’s diaper. He went to fill a bowl with warm water and fetch some soft rags from his kitchen and then knelt down beside the couch and carefully removed the diaper, after placing a clean rag beneath Harry’s bottom. The skin under the diaper was red and raw. Harry had obviously been left sitting in a dirty diaper for far too long far too often. Severus winced as he went a cloth and started to wash the babies bottom as gently as he could. Harry started to squirm and cry. “No, hurts.”, he sobbed as he tried to push Snape's hands away.

“I know it hurts, Harry, but I need to get you clean. Then I can put some cream on to make it feel better.” He was glad that he still had a batch of the cream that he had made for Narcissa to use on Draco on hand. Harry continued to cry but stop fighting to get away. As soon as Severus was done cleaning Harry he summoned the cream and spread it on. To his relief he could see it working to heal the rash immediately. Harry stopped crying and smiled at Snape.

Once he had a new nappie on the baby, Severus transfigured a glass into a bottle for Harry and filled it with a watered down nutrition potion. Then he sat down on the couch and tried to think. What was he going to do with a baby? His thoughts raced through all the possibilities, the Malfoys had a son about Harry’s age but Severus knew he couldn’t trust Lucius with the boy who lived. He would use the child for political capital and hand Harry over to the Dark Lord on his return, to save his own skin. The members of the Order would just give the child back to Dumbledore to deal with and that would mean Harry would be back at the Dursley’s again. Then Snape remembered what Dumbledore had said about the Blood Wards. He studied the faint scar that crossed his palm and remembered how he had gotten it. The Blood Bond Severus had formed with Lily when they were children, meant that Harry had to stay with him, since Petunia had been Lily’s only remaining relative. Once the Lily and he had performed the rite of the Blood Bond they became as closely related as Lily and Petunia had been, as least as far as the magic was concerned. If Harry went to live with anyone else the Blood Wards would fail and Harry would be in danger. Snape sighed. He would probably be a horrible father but he couldn’t be worse than Petunia and Vernon had been and there wasn’t any other way to keep Harry safe. “I guess I’m taking care of you from now on, Harry.” He murmured to the baby on his lap.

Harry smiled up at him sleepily. “Dada?”, he asked.

“Yes, Daddy will take care of you.” Severus smiled at the baby on his lap and started to plan. He had a lot of work to do to make a home for Harry. He had to get clothes and food appropriate for a toddler, and other necessities. As he carried his new son upstairs to put him to bed he realized one more thing he needed to do. Cokeworth was no place to raise a child, he needed to get a new house. He drifted to sleep still thinking of all that he needed to do to provide Harry with the home he should have.


	2. A Werewolf at the Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus Snape didn't know how hard it would be to parent a toddler. He is at the end of his rope when an unexpected visitor shows up at his door.

It was a pleasant day at the end of January on the cul de sac known as Hadon Gardens in London, when a man strode down the street carrying a small child who was thoroughly bundled up in a warm snowsuit. “Hello, Mrs. Brown”, he greeted the motherly looking woman who was outside sweeping the light snow off of her front step.

“Hello, Mr. Snape. Been to the park with little Evan have you? It’s a nice day for it.”

“Yes, I was hoping to run off some of his energy before lunch in the hopes that he will fall asleep quickly when I put him down for his nap today. I hope he sleeps well so I can get some stuff done. Ever since he started walking I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of him for a second without him getting into trouble. Thank you again for watching him yesterday so I could get to the shops.”

“It was my pleasure. Evan is a really sweet boy and I enjoy watching him.”

Snape entered the house next door to Mrs. Brown’s and disappeared inside. Shortly afterwards Mrs. Brown finished with the snow and went back into her own house. So there was no one outside to witness the shabby young man turn onto the street and hesitate outside of Snape’s house. The man stood there for a minute smelling the air before knocking on the door in front of him.

Severus Snape removed Harry’s snowsuit and sent him toddling off into the living room while he removed his own coat and boots and put everything away. Just as he was about to follow Harry and see what mischief the toddler had gotten up to in the few seconds he had been out of sight he heard a knock on the door. Severus frowned, there shouldn’t be anyone at the door at this time of day. Hoping it was just a salesman that he could send away quickly, he cautiously opened the door with his wand hidden but ready. Snape barely had time to register the appearance of the figure standing on his doorstep before the man was in his face snarling at him, his own wand drawn. “What are you doing with Harry? Planning to finish the job that your Master started? If you’ve harmed one hair on his head I will make sure that you regret it.”

“You’d better come inside Lupin.” Snape drawled as he stepped back away from the irate wizard lowering his wand. “This isn’t a discussion that should be had on a doorstep with the neighbours watching.”

Lupin followed the man inside and closed the door behind him, wand still at the ready. “You still haven't answered my question, Snape. Where is Harry and why do you have him? Don't try to pretend he isn't here. I would know his scent anywhere.”

“So that's how you found us. I guess being a werewolf does have some benefits after all.”, Snape sneered. “Harry's in the next room. I have him because those muggles that Dumbledore left him with had him locked in a cupboard.”

“They had Harry locked in a cupboard?” Lupin exclaimed.

“I wasn't about to leave Lily's son there to be abused and he is still with me because it was the only way to keep him safe.”

“You're right you couldn't have left him there. Why would Dumbledore leave Harry with muggles anyways and why is it so important to his safety that he stay with you?”

The werewolf hadn't lowered his wand yet but he didn't look like he was about to attack anymore. Severus took that as a win.

“Dada?” Harry had entered the room and was staring at Lupin from behind Snape’s leg. Trying to ignore the shock he felt at hearing his friend’s son call Severus Snape, of all people, Dada, Lupin crouched down to speak to the boy.

“Hello Harry. Do you remember me? I'm your Uncle Moony.” Lupin smiled at Harry but the toddler shrunk away from him and looked up at the man whose leg he was clutching.

“Dada, no uncle!” Then to their Lupin’s horror Harry began to cry. Snape swiftly bent down to pick the crying child up and glared at the intruder.

“The boy is 18 months old, most children don’t begin to form long term memories until they are three. Of course he doesn’t remember you Lupin. Try not to be more of an idiot then you need to be.” He then began to sooth Harry, “There, there it’s ok. There are no uncles here. This is just Moony. He was a good friend of your father’s just like I was a friend of your mother.”

“No uncle?” Harry stopped crying and looked at Lupin again.

“That’s right, Harry. Moony is here to help Daddy take care of you.”

“What!” Lupin exclaimed.

“Please Remus, I’m desperate. I haven’t been able to brew anything in weeks. I’ve barely slept and Dumbledore expects me to be at Hogwarts to start teaching in six months and I have no idea what to do with Harry then. I need someone I can trust with Harry who won’t let either the Death Eaters or Dumbledore know he’s here.”

“You would trust me to take care of Harry? Even though…” Lupin trailed off.

“Of course you would need to leave the house for the full moon. I’m sure you already have some sort of arrangement that works for that. My neighbour, Mrs. Brown, would be willing to babysit Harry for a few days every month I’m sure, so you will be able to take the time you need. I’ve also been following some very interesting research by one Damocles Belby. He is very close to developing a potion that should enable a werewolf to retain his mind during the transformation. I would be willing to brew the potion for you as needed once it is available.” Snape paused and then continued with a sneer, “Besides, I’m sure you would like to be available to tell Harry some _positive_ things about his father.”

Remus Lupin relaxed. Somehow the familiar sneer on Severus Snape’s face was more reassuring than the pleading expression that preceded it. That was too unlike their usual interactions for Remus to be comfortable with it. “Of course I will help you with Harry, Severus but I hope you are going to explain what’s going on. Especially why you don’t want me to let Dumbledore know where Harry is.”

“Of course. I will explain everything after we have lunch and Harry has gone down for his nap. It’s a bit of a long story.”

*************************************

Remus left the house with Harry after applying the glamour to cover the toddler’s scar that Severus insisted on. He had been living with the two for three weeks now and they had fallen into a routine that worked for them. Remus did most of the childcare and housework while Severus brewed potions for St. Mungo’s and prepared for his upcoming classes at Hogwarts. They both shared the cooking and cleaned up after meals together. All in all it was very domestic and Lupin was still having trouble believing that any of this was real. He would never have imagined that he would end up co-parenting James’ child with Severus Snape of all people. Snape was a lot easier to get along with than the werewolf would have thought possible. Becoming a parent seemed to have mellowed him. Or maybe it was the fact that Remus was no longer part of the gang that was bullying him that was the reason for the change.

“Hello.” The older woman that Remus had noticed coming out of the house next door spoke to him. “My name is Colleen Brown. I’ve noticed you out and about with Evan here the last few weeks and I thought I would introduce myself. How long have you known Mr. Snape?”

“Remus Lupin,” Lupin introduced himself, remembering that Evan was the name that Harry was known by in the neighbourhood. Severus believed that he couldn’t be too careful in concealing the Boy-Who-Lived from the world. “I’ve known Severus since we were in school together but we had lost touch with each other before Evan was born. When I heard about the death of Evan’s mother I decided to seek him out again and I’m glad I did.”

“I’m glad too. That young man needed someone. It’s not easy raising a child on your own.”

“From what he’s told me you’ve been a big help to him.”

“I’ve done my best but it’s not the same as having someone right there. I’m glad to have met you, Mr. Lupin. Enjoy the park Evan.” With that Mrs. Brown continued on her way and Remus and Harry went to their usual park down the street.

A few days later Harry decided that he needed both his Daddy and his Moony to take him to the park that morning. It was a lovely day and Severus felt almost happy as he watched Remus push Harry on the swings. Mrs. Brown stopped to talk to the young man as she passed by the park on her way home. “Hello, Mr. Snape, lovely day isn’t it.”

“Hello, Mrs. Brown, it certainly is a nice day. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing just fine. Mr. Brown has been having a bit of trouble with his back but that is par for the course nowadays. How are you and your family doing?”

“Things have been going well. Remus has been a big help with Evan. It has made things a lot easier having him around.” Snape hesitated, “I have something that should help Mr. Brown with his back. It’s a herbal remedy which I have found to be amazingly effective.”

“That would be lovely. Mr. Brown would appreciate it I’m sure.” Mrs. Brown turned to look at Harry and Lupin at the swings. “I’m very glad to see that you have been able to move on since your wife’s death. Evan certainly seems to be attached to Mr. Lupin.” She paused and turned her attention back to Snape. “I hope your young man is planning to stick around. Children need stability you know.”

Severus smiled at his neighbour. “You don’t need to worry about that. Remus and I are in this for the long term. We both want what is best for Evan.” Bidding Mrs. Brown goodbye, Snape headed over to the swings to join his son and co-parent in their game.

It wasn’t until evening that Severus realized the implications of his conversation with Mrs. Brown. “Remus, our neighbour seems to have decided that we are a couple.” He said in a pained voice.

“Really? I guess that makes sense.” Remus grinned. “We really should have expected it, after all we are living together and co-parenting Harry. It would be more surprising if people didn’t think that we were a couple.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?”

“No, I think it’s hilarious. It doesn’t really matter what others think of our relationship as long as we know the truth after all. James would go spare if he had been able to see this coming but I think Lily would have been happy with this arrangement.” Lupin grew serious, “She always hoped that she would be able to be reconciled with you someday you know. You meant a lot to her.”

“She meant a lot to me as well. I regretted what I said to her almost as soon as the words left my mouth but I didn’t know how to apologize. Then as more time went by and Lily and James got together and I got in deeper with the Death Eaters the rift seemed too deep to bridge. I’m not proud of what I became in that time, Remus. If I could go back and change things I would. Then maybe Lily would still be alive.”

They sat in silence for a while, until Remus spoke again, “Sev, I’m sorry for not doing more to stop James and Sirius from tormenting you when we were at Hogwarts. I was never comfortable with the way they treated you but I never said anything. I wish now that I had.”

Severus smiled, “Thank you Remus, that means a lot.” Their talk drifted into lighter topics as the two men enjoyed a chance for adult conversation without the constant interruption of a small child.

“I'd better head to bed so I can get some sleep before Harry wakes up again.” Remus got up from his chair. “Good night, Sev dear.” he cooed with a smile as he headed towards the stairs. Sev let out a bark of surprised laughter. “Good night, Remus,” he responded dryly. Something told him that Lupin wasn't going to drop this anytime soon and he realized he didn't mind at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not intending for the relationship between Severus Snape and Remus Lupin to be slash at all. They are co-parents and eventually friends, that is all. The other characters in the story don't necessarily know this though.


	3. The Life and Times of Evan Snape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few scenes of Harry Potter growing up with Remus Lupin and Severus Snape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All italics are a direct quote from the books.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with green icing,” complained Snape as he pulled the cake out of the oven. “Harry likes the colour and it matches his eyes. And I can add a little silver, too. Harry will love it.”

“Green’s just not a good colour for a cake, in my opinion. We should use red and maybe some gold, as well. That would look great, I’m sure Harry would love it.” Lupin responded with a grin.

“You’re just trying to indoctrinate Harry. You Gryffindors are all the same. No respect for the other houses.” Bitterness rose in Severus’ voice as he remembered how his house placement had affected how others treated him, even after he left Hogwarts. Suddenly, this silly debate wasn’t so fun anymore.

Picking up on his companion’s change in mood, Remus quickly made another suggestion. “Why don’t we decorate the cake in green and gold. That will look brilliant. We’ll start as soon as the cake cools.” He then took the other man’s hand and cooed, “If my darling Sevvie wants green then green he shall have.” Severus laughed at that and agreed to green and gold. Lupin smiled, he had found that being ridiculously lovey dovey to Snape tended to snap the other man out of his black moods when they occurred and he used the tactic shamelessly.

A couple of hours later the cake was decorated in green and gold and everything was ready to celebrate Harry’s 2nd birthday. Severus helped Harry unwrap the presents that he and Lupin had bought their son while Remus watched, ready to light the candles on the cake. Lupin remembered Harry’s first birthday. Lily and he had had a hard time keeping James and Sirius from going completely overboard. As it was Sirius had still bought Harry a toy broom that he was way too young for. His smile faded as he realized that Harry never had a chance to use that broom. It was only three months later that Voldemort had killed James and Lily and failed to kill Harry. The house had been destroyed and Harry’s toys were all lost. Or at least Dumbledore hadn’t thought to have any of them retrieved and brought to the Dursley’s with Harry. The only thing left from that time was the blanket that Hagrid had wrapped the baby in.

Harry’s crow of delight over his presents brought Lupin back to the present. He lit the candles and they sang happy birthday before helping the birthday boy blow out his candles. Remus cut the cake and exchanged rueful looks with Severus as Harry proceeded to make a right mess with his slice of cake, getting more of it in his hair and on the floor than in his mouth. This wasn’t how things should be but together they would make sure that Harry had a happy childhood. Their family wasn’t a standard configuration and Severus and he were only friends because of Harry but they both cared for the boy and wanted the best for him and that was enough.

********************************

Harry watched the fire as it turned green. He was excited because he knew that meant that his Daddy would be home soon. A few seconds later a tall figure stepped out from the fireplace brushing the soot off of his black robes. “Daddy!” cried the waiting boy as he flung himself at the wizard. “Hi Harry, have you been a good boy for Moony while Daddy’s been at work?” Snape reached down and swung his son up into the air before pulling him in close and giving him a hug. “Harry good, Daddy.” The toddler babbled about his day as Severus settled down on the couch with him and greeted Remus.

“How was your first day as a teacher, Professor Snape.”

“Dreadful, those dunderheads have no clue how to pay attention and learn. I don’t know how I’m going to pound the basics of potion making into their heads, let alone any advanced theory. Worst of all, Dumbledore decided that it made sense to put the Slytherins and Griffindors together for my class. I can tell you that the rivalry between those two houses hasn’t gotten any better since our day. Why couldn’t he have put Slytherin together with Hufflepuff. Then maybe they would be able to get through a class without anyone trying to blow us all up. Of course when I tried to complain the old coot just twinkled and called me dear boy and didn’t listen at all.” Snape seethed as he thought about how Dumbledore dismissed his concerns out of hand.

“Daddy mad?” asked Harry. His Dad smiled at the small boy and reassured him, “Daddy isn’t made at Harry but at the dunderheads I was trying to teach today. And my old coot of a headmaster.” Harry laughed, “Daddy funny, dund’hea’s!”

“Now you’ve done it, Sev.” Remus laughed, “I think Harry has a new favorite word.” The werewolf then shifted to sit on the couch beside the father and son and leaned against Snape. “I’m so glad you’re home, Sevvie darling. I missed you so much while you were gone.” He cooed to the irate wizard.

Severus laughed and gave Lupin a look. “You are ridiculous, you know.”

“I know but it always makes you laugh so I’m not about to stop now. Seriously though, I am glad your home. Harry’s been driving me crazy, asking about when you would get home, all day.”

“Did you miss your Daddy, Harry?” Snape asked the small child on his lap.

“Harry miss Daddy.” The toddler agreed. “Daddy stay home now?”

“I’m sorry Harry, I need to go back to work again but I will always come back in time to put you to bed. Now let’s get you upstairs and into your bath. What colour would you like the bubbles to be today?”

“Night Moony,” Harry called over his Dad’s shoulder as he was carried upstairs. “Goodnight Harry,” Moony replied.

After putting Harry to bed, Severus sat with Remus for a while getting filled in on Harry’s day. He also complained some more about his classes and having to deal with Dumbledore but the rancour was gone from his voice. A good laugh and the time with his son had relaxed him and made everything seem much more bearable. Snape was in a much better mood when he flooed back to his quarters at Hogwarts for the night.

********************************

“C'mon Moony, c’mon Dad, I don’t want to be late,” Harry called as he took off down the steps only to be stopped by an older man heading out of the house next door.

“Whoa there Evan, where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“Hi Mr. Brown, I'm starting school today.” Evan informed his neighbor excitedly.

“We have plenty of time, Evan, slow down,” commanded Snape as he caught up with his son. “Hello Mr. Brown.”

“Hello Mr. Snape. It's nice to see the lad so eager for school. He's a smart boy. He's been teaching me all sorts of new things whenever Colleen watches him for you.”

“He is really excited about starting school.” commented Remus. “I'm glad Severus was able to take the morning off today to take him in for his first day.”

“I was lucky to have a free period this morning. I should be able to get Evan to school and still make it in time for my first class of the day. I also arranged with Minerva to cover for me if I end up running late.” Snape continued after they had said their goodbyes to Mr. Brown and moved out of earshot. “I'm glad Minerva isn't the type to ask too many questions about why I need time off. I expect Albus will be annoyed that I wasn't at breakfast but he'll survive.”

It wasn't long before the three wizards arrived at the muggle elementary school that Harry was going to attend as Evan Snape. Harry grabbed Lupin's hand as well and dragged both his parents into the school, where they were met by a blond woman who introduced herself as Evan's teacher, Miss Murphy.

“Why don’t you head on into the classroom, Evan, while I talk to your parents for a minute.”

“Ok. Bye Dad, bye Moony.”

“Bye Evan. I'll be here to pick you up at the end of the school day,” Lupin replied.

Snape added his own goodbyes and watched Harry run into the classroom and head over to a little girl who was sitting on the floor looking at some of the class toys. “Hi, I'm Evan, that's my Daddy and Moony over there by the door. What's your name?”

The girl looked where Evan was pointing and objected, “That's not your Mommy. Mommies are girls, he's a boy.”

“I know that, my Mommy died when I was a baby and Moony moved in with us to help Daddy take care of me. He's my Moony,” Evan explained.

“Moony is a weird name.”

“It's not his real name. I just call him that because that's what my father called him. Moony says it's a nickname. His real name is Remus.”

“Oh,” the girl responded. “My name is Emily. Would you like to play with me.”

Severus smiled as he turned back to the teacher who reassured the two men that she would be alert for any issues Evan might have as a result of his unconventional family structure. “There are other children in the class who don’t come from a nuclear family for various reasons. One of the activities that I like to do early in the school year gives the children a chance to talk about their families and I encourage them to recognize and accept that families come in many different shapes and sizes.”

After talking to the teacher a little more and seeing that Harry was happy with his new friend, the two wizards left the school. Remus headed back to the house while Snape opted to go to the nearest approved apparition point with the intention of flooing into Hogwarts from Hogsmeade, rather than returning home to floo from there.

**************************************

Harry woke up and leapt from bed. It was his 10th birthday and he was going to the zoo with his Dad and Moony and Emily. He dressed as quickly as he could and then ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where his Dad was making breakfast. “Good morning, Harry. Now if only you could get ready that quickly on school mornings,” He said dryly. “Moony’s told me about how much trouble he has getting you out of the door some days.”

Harry grinned at his Dad, “I like school fine but it’s something I do every day. It’s not nearly as exciting as going to the zoo. Good morning Moony.” He added as Remus came into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Remus,” Severus greeted the other man. “Did you take your potion this morning.”

“Yes, as soon as I got up. I didn’t want to forget it in the excitement of the day. I really appreciate you brewing it for me but I just wish it didn’t taste so foul.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do anything about the taste. Maybe breakfast will help.”

The family of three had just finished cleaning up from breakfast when there was a knock on the door. “That must be Emily,” Evan shouted in excitement as he ran to open it.

“She must have gotten up even earlier than Evan,” Snape commented. “I’m not sure I have the energy to shepherd those two through the zoo today.”

“Happy Birthday, Evan,” Emily said as her friend opened the door. “Here’s your present. I’m really looking forward to going to the zoo today. I’m sure that we are going to learn a lot about all the different animals there. What animal are you most looking forward to seeing? I think I like the Polar Bear the most.”

“Thank you. I don’t know what animal I want to see the most. I want to see them all,” Evan replied. “Dad, Moony can I open my present now?”

“I don’t see why not,” responded Severus, “We have some time before we leave for the zoo.”

Evan opened his present from Emily, which turned out to be a book about animals. Then they got ready to leave. Soon they had caught the bus on their way to the zoo. Severus and Remus chatted about the progress of their garden, where Snape grew several of his potion ingredients, while Emily and Evan watched the traffic passing by the bus.

_“I had a dream about a motorcycle,” said_ Evan, remembering suddenly as a motorcycle overtook the bus. _“It was flying.”_

“That sounds like an interesting dream,” Remus commented in an odd voice. Despite the smile on his face he looked sad somehow. Evan didn’t know what there was about a flying motorcycle that made Moony sad but he changed the subject to how much he was looking forward to getting to the zoo. To his relief he noticed his Dad leaned in and started to talk to Moony in a low voice. He knew his Dad would know what was wrong and how to cheer the other wizard up.

It was a sunny day and the zoo was crowded with families. Snape bought Evan and Emily chocolate ice creams at the entrance as they went into the zoo. The two children ran ahead eager to see as much as they could. It was a good morning. Evan had brought along the book Emily had given him and they read the information plaques at the zoo and then looked the animals up to see what else they could learn about them. They ate at the zoo restaurant and, because it was a special day, Severus treated them both to knickerbocker glories for desert.

_After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone._ Emily and Evan looked at all the reptiles in order as they went through the building. Soon they reached the cage of the largest snake in the place. It was fast asleep which seemed to annoy one of the other children there.

_“Make it move,” he whined at this father._ The man _wrapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on._

_“This is boring,”_ The boy moaned and left.

_Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry’s._

_It winked._

_Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren’t. He looked back at the snake and winked, too._

The snake jerked its head toward the boy and his father who had been tapping his glass, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Evan a look that said quite plainly:

_“I get that all the time.”_

_“I know,” Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn’t sure the snake could hear him. “It must be really annoying.”_

_The snake nodded vigorously._

_“Where do you come from, anyway?” Harry asked._

_The snake jabbed its tail at the little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it._

_Boa Constrictor, Brazil._

_“Was it nice there?”_

_The boa constructor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. “Oh, I see - so you’ve never been to Brazil?”_

As the snake shook his head, Severus and Remus watched in surprise. Their son was a parselmouth! That was not something they expected. Harry had shown the usual accidental magic as he grew but talking to snakes was something else entirely. Oblivious to his parent’s reaction Harry finished talking to the snake and rejoined Emily in looking at the other reptiles.

Later that day, after they had returned from the zoo and Emily had been picked up from their parents, Severus brought up what had happened at the zoo.

“Harry were you talking to that snake in the reptile house?”

“Yes,” Harry responded puzzled, “I mean he didn’t really say anything but I could tell he was annoyed by the boy who had been there and he seemed to be able to understand what I was saying to him.”

“I think you are a parselmouth, Harry. That means you can talk to any snake and you should be able to get them to obey you as well. This is a very unusual ability but it is probably best if you don’t advertise it. Even in the wizarding world.”

“Why not?” Harry wanted to know.

“Because the parselmouths are extremely rare and the most recent known parselmouth was the Dark Lord. As a result most wizards regard it as a sign of dark magic. The most famous parselmouth was Salazar Slytherin one of the founders of Hogwarts. Since the Dark Lord was a Slytherin and so were many of his followers this fact doesn’t help improve the wizarding world's perception of parselmouths.”

Harry frowned, “That’s stupid. I can’t help being a parselmouth and it definitely doesn't mean that I’m going to be evil.”

“We know that Harry and maybe when you are older you can change things but for now we would rather if you didn’t have to deal with it.”

“Ok, Dad. I won’t let anyone know.”

“Thank you. Now you’ve had a busy day. We’d better get some supper into you and get you to bed.”


	4. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All italics are direct quotes from J.K. Rowling's books.

“Dad! Dad! My letter came!” A very excited Harry ran into Snape’s workshop waving a thick yellowish envelope. “I’m going to Hogwarts!”

“Of course you are, Harry. Your name has been down ever since you were born. You have been performing accidental magic most of your life. It isn’t like this is some big surprise.” Severus said absently.

Harry glared at his Dad. “I’m going to find Moony. He’ll be excited for me,” he said and stomped away.

A few minutes later Harry was reading his letter out loud to Lupin. “July 31, that's only a few days away! We need to owl them right away Moony! I don't want it to be late.”

“Don't worry Harry. We'll send it this afternoon. Now let's see that list of supplies. I'll need to talk to your Dad about taking you to get all of this.”

“That's all arranged,” Severus interjected as he entered the room. “I talked Dumbledore into letting me take Harry to get his school supplies. After all we couldn't expect his muggle relatives to know where to get it all,” he finished sarcastically.

“Great,” said Lupin, “How would you like to go to Diagon alley on your birthday, Harry? We could make a whole day of it and get you your birthday present while we're there.”

“That sounds great! It will be my best birthday ever!” Harry went back to studying the list. “I can't wait until the school year starts. I wonder what house I'll be in.”

“Well, your mother and father were in Gryffindor with me when we were in school,” said Remus, “It's a great house, brave and valiant, you would make great friends there. I know I did.”

“What house were you in Dad?” Harry asked Severus.

“I was in Slytherin and now that I’m a professor at Hogwarts I’m the Slytherin Head of House as well.”

“Really? It would be nice to be in Slytherin then. I would like to have you as my Head of House.”

“I would love to have you in my house, Harry, but I’m afraid that might not be a good idea. Remember that the Dark Lord was in Slytherin as well as many of his Death Eaters.” Snape’s hand went to his forearm where the Dark Mark still was. “Not all of the Death Eaters were imprisoned when the Dark Lord disappeared. There were those that escaped punishment by claiming to have been under the imperius curse. Many of their children are now at Hogwarts, just as you will soon be, and most of them have been sorted into Slytherin. It will be much safer for you to be in one of the other houses, away from those who may owe the Dark Lord loyalty.”

Harry’s eyes followed his Dad’s hand. He knew what the mark on his dad's arm meant, although he did not know all the details of what his dad had done for the Dark Lord or why he had turned against him in the end. Although he suspected his mother’s death had something to do with the latter.

“That brings me to another thing I need to talk to you about,” Snape said seriously, “Dumbledore believes that the Dark Lord will come back again and I think he is right. When he does return I will be needed to play the role I did in the last war, which means I will need the Dark Lord’s favour. If I am seen to be close to you and if you are seen to trust me then the price the Dark Lord would ask of me for his favour would be to bring you to him. I cannot allow that to happen so no one can know what we are to each other. When you are at Hogwarts I will need to do my best to act like I hate you, especially since you will be taking potions with the Slytherins.” Here Snape paused and knelt down before his son. “But be assured, Harry, that it will all be an act. I love you and I always will, remember that.”

Harry looked at his Dad and nodded, “I will remember, Dad.” Then he smiled and in a lighter tone continued, “What about the other two houses? What are they like.”

Snape stood and went back to his seat. “Well there is Ravenclaw, I think you would fit in well there, it is the house of those who love to learn and value intelligence over all else. The final house is Hufflepuff, the house of the hardworking and loyal. No matter what house you end up in Moony and I will be proud of you.”

“Your Dad is right, Harry,” Remus said, “As much as I would love you to be in my old house I will be proud of you no matter what. I know you will do well, no matter where you are sorted to. Now we’d better go and send that owl for you.”

******************************************

Harry looked around in excitement as he followed his Dad and Moony, both dressed in wizard robes, out of the underground a few days later. He was disappointed to see that they had come out on an ordinary muggle street although he knew that the way to Wizarding London would not be obvious. After they had walked a short way the two adult wizards came to a stop. “Here we are,” said Lupin, “the Leaky Cauldron.”

Harry stared. If Moony hadn’t pointed it out he wouldn’t have even noticed it was there. He knew that the muggles passing by couldn’t see the Leaky Cauldron at all. Before he had time to really think about this they went inside. It was a lot more dark and shabby than Harry had expected. When they walked in the bartender looked over at them and greeted Snape, “Professor Snape, I don’t often see you in here. What can I get you and your companions.”

“Nothing, Tom, I’m on Hogwarts business,” Snape said stiffly, laying his hand on Harry’s shoulder.

_ “Good Lord,” said the bartender, peering at Harry, “is this - can this be - ?” _

_ The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent. _

_ “Bless my soul,” whispered the old bartender, “Harry Potter … what an honour.” _

_ He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes. _

_ “Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back.” _

_ Harry didn’t know what to say. Everyone was looking at him.  _ Snape scowled.

“Come with me, Potter. You have a lot to buy and we must hurry.” He swept his gaze across the room and the bar’s patrons shrank back into their seats under his glare. Snape led them through the bar and swept out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and small weeds. Snape stood in front of the wall with the trash can and tapped it three times with his wand. A small hole appeared in the wall and grew bigger until they were facing an archway onto a cobbled street. As they stepped through the archway Harry looked around eagerly at Diagon Alley. He had heard so much about this place but this was his first time visiting it. He felt he was about to burst with excitement as he tried to take in everything at once.

“Come on Harry. Our first stop is Gringotts. I need to get some money out to pay for your school supplies and I expect that you would like to have some spending money for the school year as well.” Snape lead Harry to a building that towered over the other little shops. A goblin stood beside the entrance. Harry tried not to stare. He had seen pictures of goblins and other magical creatures in his parent’s books but this was his first time seeing one in person.

“I think I’ll let you two go in on your own,” Lupin said, “I’ll just browse the shops until you are done.”

Harry waved goodbye to Moony as Snape led him up the steps into the building. Soon they were in the vast marble hall of the bank. Snape and Harry made for the counter.

“Good Morning,” Snape said to a goblin. “I have come to make a withdrawal from my vaults and we will also need to visit Mr. Harry Potter’s safe as well.”

“You have the keys, sir?”

“Of course,” Snape said as he handed over two tiny golden keys to the goblin.

The goblin looked at them closely.

“That seems to be in order. I will have someone bring you down to both vaults. Griphook!”

Another goblin came over to the two wizards and led them toward one of the doors leading off the hall. Griphook held the door open for them and, once they had entered the passageway on the other side, whistled for a small cart. Snape and Harry climbed into the cart with the goblin and they were off.

After a wild ride through a maze of twisting passages they reached a small door in the wall. Griphook brought the cart to a halt and unlocked the door. Snape went inside and gathered some of the coins sitting inside into a bag he pulled from his pocket and then quickly came out again. Once more the three climbed into the cart and shot off again.

They stopped at another small door, which the goblin unlocked as well. Harry gaped at what he saw inside. Piles of gold and silver and bronze coins. Snape pulled another bag out of his pocket and helped Harry gather some of the coins into the bag.

“All this is yours,” Snape told him. “Left to you by your parents. You may have a reasonable amount for spending money each year, now that you are attending school. The rest of it will be kept here for you until you are of age.”

On their way out of the bank Snape was greeted by a gigantic man. “Professor Snape, fancy seein’ you here.”

“Hagrid,” Snape nodded at the man.

“And is that a student yer got with yeh? Dumbledore finally got yeh on muggleborn duty has he?” Hagrid peered at Harry.

“This is Harry Potter. I am taking him to aquire his school supplies since his relatives are unable to do so.” Snape said stiffly.

“Harry Potter! Las’ time I saw yeh, you was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got your mom’s eyes.”

“Who are you?” asked Harry.

“I’m Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.” Hagrid held out an enormous hand and shook Harry’s whole arm.

“Well, I mustn’t keep yeh. Yeh have a busy day ahead o’ yeh. I have an important errand here meself. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore sent me.” Hagrid drew himself up proudly. “He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. He knows he can trust me you see.”

“Then you must get to it,” Snape interjected. “Come Harry.” He strode away towards the doors.

“Goodbye Harry, I’ll see yer at Hogwarts.” Hagrid waved and went to the counter to talk to the goblins as Harry hurried to catch up with his Dad.

“You might as well get your uniform first,” Snape said as he headed towards Madam Malkin’s Robes for all Occasions.

After Madam Malkin’s they stopped to buy parchment and quills. Then they found Remus at Florish and Botts where they stopped to get Harry's school books. The book store fascinated Harry. Both he and Remus got so absorbed in browsing that Snape eventually had to drag them out of the store so that they could get the rest of Harry's things.

They got Harry a cauldron, after Snape explained why it had to be pewter and not any other metal, a set of scales and a telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary. While they were there Snape picked up the order he had placed for the new school year as well as buying a supply of basic potion ingredients for Harry.

“Next is your wand and then lunch.” said Lupin as they headed to Ollivander’s.

After Harry finally got his wand they had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry had been rather quiet when they left Ollivander’s, preoccupied with all that Mr. Ollivander had told him, but it didn’t take long for him to recover and start to chatter about all he had seen that day. When they had finished lunch he remembered that the next stop was to get his birthday present.

“I know exactly what I want to get for my birthday,” Harry said as they headed back to Diagon Alley, “I figured if I could get an owl, it would be really useful while I’m at Hogwarts. I need to keep in touch with Moony after all. Besides, I’ve always wanted a pet.”

After they stopped at Eeylops Owl Emporium, where Harry got a beautiful snowy owl, they made a second stop at the bookstore since Harry decided he wanted a book on wandlore. Then they went to Fortescue’s for ice cream before heading home. They received a lot of odd looks taking the subway with a snowy owl in a cage but Harry didn’t care. It had been a wonderful day.


	5. Off to Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Text in italics are direct quotes from J.K. Rowling's books.

Harry spent the rest of his summer reading through his textbooks when he wasn’t spending time with Emily. Since they were going to different schools in the fall they wanted to enjoy the time they had left as much as they could. They were planning to write to each other but it wouldn’t be the same.

On September 1st, Harry woke up early. Today was the day! He packed his trunk with all his school supplies and checked his list twice to make sure he had everything. By the time he was sure he wasn’t forgetting anything it was still a couple of hours before they had to leave. Harry went to eat the breakfast Moony had prepared for him and then decided to spend the rest of the time rereading about wand lore.

Eventually, it was time to leave. Remus shrunk Harry’s trunk to make it easier to carry and they went out to catch the bus. Soon they were at King’s Cross Station, heading for platform 9 ¾. When they got to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 Remus explained to Harry how to get through the barrier and then sent Harry through. Harry breathed in relief as he found himself safely on the other side of the barrier, on platform 9 ¾ with the Hogwarts express steaming on the track in front of him. The platform was full of children and their parents, with owls hooting excitedly everywhere and cats meowing. Remus quickly joined Harry and helped him find an empty compartment on the train.

As Harry was back on the platform saying goodbye to Moony he noticed four red-headed boys arrive on the platform in quick succession followed by a plump witch accompanied by a young red haired girl. The three older boys quickly disappeared into the crowd on the platform while the youngest boy, who looked about Harry’s age stayed with his mother. The witch spotted Lupin shortly after arriving.

“Why Remus, I wasn’t expecting to see you here. It’s been awhile but I know that you can’t possibly have any children old enough to be going to Hogwarts.”

“Hello, Molly, it has been a while hasn’t it. Severus asked me to make sure that Harry made it on the train all right. He didn’t seem to think that Harry’s relatives could be trusted to get him here. And of course I wasn’t about to pass up the chance to see James’ son go off to Hogwarts.”

Molly looked at Harry with interest, “You must be Harry Potter. It’s nice to meet you dear. I should have realized that you would be starting at Hogwarts this year. It’s Ron’s first year too, you know.”

The girl, who had been standing beside her mother, stared. “You’re Harry Potter?” she asked in a tone of awe.

Molly nudged her, “Don’t stare dear, it’s not polite.”

Harry shifted uncomfortably, “I guess I’d better get on the train,” he mumbled. With a wave to Moony he retreated to the compartment where they had left his trunk.

From the window, Harry watched the red haired family on the platform. The oldest, whose name was Percy, was now dressed in his school robes with a shiny red and gold badge on his chest with the letter P on it. The other two boys, twins by the names of Fred and George, teased him about how often he had managed to mention having been made a prefect over the summer. After Percy left, Mrs. Weasley turned to the twins.

_ “Now, you two - this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've - you've blown up a toilet or -” _

_ “Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet.” _

_ “Great idea though, thanks Mom.” _

_ “It's not funny. And look after Ron.” _

_ “Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us.” _

Ron quickly said, “You know that boy with glasses who was here when we arrived? He's Harry Potter!”

“Really? Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?

_ Their mother suddenly became very stern. _

_ “I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needed reminding of that on his first day at school.” _

_ A whistle sounded. _

_ “Hurry up!” their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them goodbye, and their younger sister began to cry. _

_ “Don't Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls.” _

_ “We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat.” _

_ “George!” _

_ “Only joking, Mom.” _

The train began to move and the platform disappeared as the train rounded the corner. The door of the compartment slid open and Ron came in.

_ “Anyone sitting there?” he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. “Everywhere else is full.” _

Harry shook his head and Ron sat down. They sat in silence for a moment until the twins poked their heads into the compartment.

_ “Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there.” _

The other twin spoke to Harry, “We should introduce ourselves. Fred and George Weasley. And I guess you've already met our brother Ron.”

“I'm Harry Potter.”

“Ron said but we weren't sure.”

“He might of been mistaken. Nice to meet you Harry. See you later then.”

After that Harry and Ron started talking. Harry was really interested in what it was like to be part such a big family since it was always just him and his Dad and Moony. Of course he had to be careful what he said about his own family. When Ron asked about what it was like to live with Muggles he quickly brought the conversation back to Ron's family.

_ “I heard you went to live with Muggles,” said Ron. “What are they like?” _

_ “Horrible - well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I had three wizard brothers.” _

This successfully distracted Ron, as he gloomily started complaining about what it was like having five older brothers. Harry was rather horrified to hear that Ron was using his brother's old wand but he didn't say anything since Ron obviously already felt bad about his family's lack of money. Harry told Ron that most of his clothing was second hand and that he had rarely had spending money before. Which was the truth, Hogwarts professors didn't make much money, but Harry managed to imply it was because his muggle relatives didn't want to spend money on him. This seemed to cheer Ron up.

After that they sat in silence until the food cart arrived. Harry eagerly bought some of everything. He had heard about wizarding sweets but he hadn't had a chance to try any before. When he brought it all back into the compartment Harry insisted that Ron share it all with him. They sat there eating their way through Harry’s pasties, cakes and candies, while Harry examined the cards that they found in the chocolate frog packages. After they had worked their way through the Every Flavour Beans there was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round faced boy came in looking for his toad.

After the boy left Ron pulled out his battered wand to try to cast a spell on his rat, Scabbers. Harry noted with increasing horror that the wands core was unicorn hair. He remembered from his reading on wandlore that unicorn hair was the most loyal of cores. It would be a miracle if Ron was able to use that wand to do even passable magic. The wand would be fighting him every step of the way. It was at that point that Harry decided that he was getting Ron a new wand as soon as he could figure out how to do it.

Ron had just waved his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him, who was helping him look for his toad. She was already wearing her school robes and had a bossy sort of voice. The girl noticed Ron’s wand and waited to see him try his spell, which of course didn’t work.

The girl finally remembered to introduce herself as Hermione Granger after a flood of words about the spells she had tried and the surprise that her letter was to her. She was obviously nervous about starting Hogwarts as a muggle born. Ron and Harry introduced themselves and of course Hermione had heard about Harry. Harry knew that everyone he met in the wizarding world would of heard about him. After another flood of words about the school houses Hermione left, taking the toadless boy, whose name was apparently Neville, with her.

_ “Whatever House I’m in, I hope she’s not in it.” said Ron. _

“I kind of liked her,” said Harry. “She reminded me of my best friend back home. Anyways I think the end’s of Scabber’s whiskers are a bit lighter.”

Harry and Ron had started talking about Quidditch, which Ron was quite enthusiastic about, and Harry had to pretend that he didn’t know anything about the game. Ron was just taking Harry through the finer parts of the game when the compartment door opened again and three boys entered.

_ “Is it true?”  _ the boy in the middle asked. _ “They’re saying all down the train that Harry Potter’s in this compartment. So it’s you, is it?” _

“Yes,” said Harry.

“This is Crabbe and this is Goyle,” said the pale boy carelessly. “And my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.”

_ Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him. _

_ “You think my name’s funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasley’s have red hair freckles, and more children than they can afford.” _

_ He turned back to Harry. “You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.” _

He held out his hand and Harry shook it.

“You’re Professor Snape’s godson aren’t you? He told me about you when he took me to get my school supplies. I appreciate your offer of help but I think I can tell who the wrong sorts are for myself. I hope that won’t be a problem. Why don’t you join us, and have some chocolate frogs. We still have lots left.” Harry spoke in a cheerful, friendly tone. He didn’t really like what he had seen of Draco so far but he knew that his Dad would want him to be friendly with his godson.

Draco looked taken aback, he wasn’t sure how to deal with such a friendly rebuff so he sneered and left. Hermione then came in to tell the two boys to put on their school robes. After she left they did change as the train started to slow down. Harry and Ron nervously left the train as he stopped and saw a lamp bobbing over the heads of the students.  _ Harry heard a familiar voice: “Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there,Harry.” _

Harry and the other first years followed Hagrid to the lake where they marveled over the view of Hogwarts before boarding the boats waiting there for them. Harry and Ron ended up in the same boat as Hermione and Neville. Harry chatted with Hermione on their way across the lake, he had decided to cultivate her friendship. Not only did he like her but he had also realized that watching Hermione would give him a good idea of what it would be reasonable for him to know as a muggle raised wizard.

Eventually they reached the other side of the lake. Hagrid led them to the castle doors. The group of students huddled together as Hagrid pounded on the door.


	6. Sorting and Potions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's first class with his Dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I considered putting Harry in Ravenclaw for this AU but decided to keep the sorting the same as in the books. While I think that Harry would be an excellent fit in Ravenclaw , after having been raised by Lupin and Snape, having him in Gryffindor worked better for the way I wanted to write this.
> 
> All italics are direct quotes from the books.

The door swung open and Hagrid handed the first years off to Professor McGonagall. She led them to a small, empty chamber off the entrance hall and gave them a welcome speech about the Hogwarts houses. Then she left them to contemplate their fate. Harry wished that his Dad and Moony had seen fit to give him some idea of what the sorting consisted of but he quickly realized that none of the other students knew either. His nervousness was not helped by the ghosts passing through just before Professor McGonagall returned.

The first years followed the professor into the Great Hall. Harry was momentarily distracted from his nerves by the splendidness of the hall. Reading about it and hearing descriptions had not prepared him for the reality. His attention was brought back to the sorting as Professor McGonagall placed a battered wizard’s hat on a four-legged stool. They listened to the hat sing its song and the sorting began.

The sorting ceremony went quickly. Harry watched with interest as Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor as she had wanted. Neville also ended up in Gryffindor, although it took a long time for him to be sorted. Draco Malfoy was sorted to Slytherin, which didn’t surprise Harry at all. He was glad that the other boy had gotten what he wanted. By now Harry was starting to suspect that the sorting hat took the student preferences into account when they were sorted. Finally, Harry was called.

Harry walked up to the hat aware that everyone’s eyes were on him. He hoped that the trembling in his hands wasn’t visible to the others. He sat on the stool and put on the hat and waited. As the hat started to speak to him in a small voice in his ear, Harry held onto one thought ‘Not Slytherin,not Slytherin.’

_ “Not Slytherin, eh?” said the small voice. “Are you sure? You could be great you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that - no? Well, if you’re sure - better be GRYFFINDOR!” _

Harry was relieved as he headed to the Gryffindor table. He wasn’t in Slytherin and he was also in the house where he knew the most people. Now that he was sitting down, Harry could see the High Table properly. He looked up and spotted Hagrid sitting at the end closest to him. At the centre of the table was Dumbledore, whom Harry studied curiously. Finally Harry spotted his Dad sitting beside a young jittery looking professor in a large purple turban. Harry smiled to himself and turned his attention back to the sorting just in time to see Ron sorted into Gryffindor as well.

Harry clapped loudly as Ron sat next to him. There was only one student left to sort after Ron. Once he was sorted into Slytherin, Professor McGonagall took the sorting hat away and Dumbledore rose to his feet and began to speak.

_ “Welcome!” he said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!” _

Harry stared as Dumbledore sat back down. The man was barking mad! No wonder Harry’s Dad didn’t trust him.

The food that appeared was good and Harry enjoyed the conversations that were happening around him. Nearly Headless Nick was a bit of a shock. It was going to take some getting used to, living with ghosts. When the meal was nearly over Harry looked up at the High Table again. His Dad was talking to the professor with the purple turban and just as Harry's Dad looked past the turban, straight into Harry's eyes, a sharp, hot pain shot across Harry's scar.

“Ouch!” Harry noticed a look of concern flash across his Dad's face as he clapped his hand to his head.

_ “What is it?” asked Percy. _

_ “N-nothing.” _

_ The pain had gone as quickly as it had come.  _

“Who's that teacher talking to Professor Snape?” he asked Percy.

“Oh you know Snape already, do you? That's Professor Quirrell. He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. He probably looks so nervous because he's talking to Snape. Everyone knows Snape doesn't want to teach Potions and is after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape.”

Harry frowned He knew his Dad didn't like teaching Potions but he didn't think he'd like teaching Defense any better. Of course his Dad was really concerned about Harry being able to defend himself against the Dark Arts so maybe that concern extended to the other students at Hogwarts as well.

The feast ended and Dumbledore gave the start-of-term notices. They sang the school song which further convinced Harry that Dumbledore was insane and then it was finally time for bed. The walk to the Gryffindor tower was endless but finally they were in their dormitory. Harry fell asleep almost as soon as he was in his bed.

Harry was both nervous and excited as he entered the Potions classroom. It was the end of his first week at Hogwarts and this was his first class with his Dad. He was worried that his acting abilities wouldn’t be up to the task. Harry knew his Dad was going to put on a show for the Slytherins to convince them, and through them their parents, that he hated Harry. The only problem was that he wasn’t sure how his Dad wanted him to react to complete the picture.

_ Snape started his class by taking the roll call and he paused at Harry’s name. _

_ “Ah,  _ yes _ ,” he said softly, “Harry Potter. Our new -  _ celebrity _.” _

And just like that Harry’s nervousness left him. If his Dad was going to act like he expected Harry to be stuck up because he was famous for something he didn’t even remember he could go along with that. Arrogant and mouthy that was the ticket and if his Dad reacted the way he thought he would it should convince everyone that they hated each other. This was going to be fun. Harry gave Draco Malfoy a cheery grin as the blond boy sniggered with his friends, Crabbe and Goyle and turned his attention back to Snape who had finished calling the names and was looking up at the class.

_ “You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making,” he began. He spoke in barely a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. “As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic.” _

As Snape continued with the opening speech he gave every class Harry tuned him out. As a result he was caught off guard when his Dad suddenly addressed him.

_ “Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood.” _

Harry blinked as he realized what his Dad had asked him. Asphodel, a lily that symbolizes regret for a death and wormwood, a source of bitterness and grief. He had read his Dad's book on the meaning of flowers several times and the man knew it. ‘Dad's been brooding about my mother's death again. I wish Moony were here to snape him out of it.’ Harry thought. He then realized that he had been silent too long. He glanced at Ron who looked stumped and noticed that Hermione had her hand in the air.

Harry shrugged. “I don't know, sir.” He should know the answer but he couldn't think of it and he wasn't going to try too hard.

_ Snape’s lips curled into a sneer. _

_ “Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything.” _

_ He ignored Hermione's hand. _

_ Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?” _

‘Bezoar, an antidote for most poisons, symbol of protection. A stone taken from the stomach of a goat.’ Harry's mind supplied. “I would go look in the potions cupboard, sir,” he snarked.

Snape's eyes narrowed.  _ “Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?” _

Snape continued to ignore Hermione's hand.

_ “What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?” _

_ At this Hermione stood up, her hand stretched toward the dungeon ceiling.” _

‘Monkshood, also known as wolfsbane or aconite, meaning, Beware, a deadly foe is near.’ Harry's neck pricked. He wondered if his Dad's warning had anything to do with how his scar had hurt at the welcoming feast.

_ “I don't know,” said Harry quietly. “I think Hermione does though, why don’t you try her?” _

_ A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye and Seamus winked. Snape however was not pleased. _

_ “Sit down,” he snapped at Hermione. _

As Snape continued to lecture Harry on the answers to his questions, Harry paid just enough attention to make sure he had remembered everything right. The rest of his attention was taken up by his admiration for Snape's acting abilities. If Harry hadn't known better he would have been convinced by now that the professor hated him. Snape finished his lecture.

_ “Well? Why aren't you all copying that down” _

_ There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, “And  _ two _ points will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter.” _

The rest of the lesson proceeded peacefully. Snape criticized everybody except for Draco. Harry knew that Draco had a similar head start in potions as his own, due to being Snape's godson. Of course Snape still found things to criticize about Harry's work since he needed to maintain the impression they had given at the start of class. Later, while Snape called the classes attention to Malfoy’s work, Harry grabbed Neville's hand as he went to drop his porcupine quills in the cauldron. “Stop! Take the potion off of the fire first or you'll have a disaster on your hands.” he hissed. Neville thanked Harry and did just that but the commotion had attracted the professor's attention.

“Potter! It would be wise to pay attention in my class. I will have no talking out of turn. Another point you've lost from Gryffindor.”

Harry opened his mouth to argue, not that he thought it would do any good but it seemed the thing to do, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.

_ “I wouldn't push it,” he muttered, “I've heard Snape can turn very nasty.” _

Harry was tempted to find out what his Dad being very nasty would consist of but he decided to leave it. Ron and Neville were looking pretty worried.

“Potter remain after class. I have something to say to you.”

Harry swallowed. Even knowing it was all an act the menace in his Dad's voice was unnerving. “Yes, sir,” he muttered as he gathered his stuff together. The other students left but Ron lingered by the door watching Harry worriedly until a glare from the professor sent him out of the room.

Snape and Harry stood facing each other as the door shut behind Ron. Snape glaring at Harry who stood as defiantly as he could against the menace that emanated from the older wizard. They held their position for a moment after the door shut and then Snape relaxed and smiled at his son.

“Good work on catching Neville's mistake before he caused an accident. I'm not so pleased with your cheek at the beginning of class though.”

“Don’t worry I won't talk to the other professors like that. I just thought I would give you another reason to pick on me. By the end of month everyone should be convinced we hate each other.” Harry hesitated, “Dad, when you mentioned monkshood - did you mean to imply I was in danger from a deadly foe or were you just trying to make me think of Moony?”

Snape frowned, “I don't think you are in danger yet but I don't like what's happening at the school this year. I will continue to try to learn more but in the meantime stay away from the third floor corridor. You need to be careful, Harry. Now you had better go find your friend before he mounts a rescue expedition.”

“I'll be careful. Bye Dad.” Harry left the potions classroom and found Ron nervously waiting for him in the corridor outside.

“Are you alright, mate. Snape looked like he wanted to cut you up for potion ingredients.”

“I'm still all in one piece.” Harry reassures his friend. “Would you like to come and see Hagrid with me this afternoon?”

Harry and Ron visited Hagrid at his hut and Harry read the article about the breakin at Gringotts on his birthday. He remembered seeing Hagrid there, on an errand for Dumbledore. He really had no reason to think there was a connection but it was clear that Hagrid did not want to talk about it. Had Hagrid been the one to empty the vault just before the breakin? And if that was the case where were the contents of the safe now?

Harry’s first potion lesson had set the pattern for the rest of the school year. Snape picked on Harry, making his apparent hatred for the boy obvious and Harry snarked back. This usually lead to him being kept after class for a few minutes or even getting a detention for that weekend, enabling the two to spend time together without raising suspicion


	7. The Trouble with Friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is not having much luck with making friends with Draco Malfoy or Hermione Granger.

Harry was still trying to make friends with Draco Malfoy but it wasn’t going very well. First-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins and that meant he didn’t really see much of Draco which made it hard. Harry didn’t really want to approach the other boy at the Slytherin table during meal times since the older Slytherins made him nervous, so he was glad when he saw that the Slytherins and Gryffindors would be taking flying lessons together on the coming Thursday. Any chance to get to know Draco better would only help, he thought.

Thursday afternoon arrived and with it the flying lessons. Harry greeted Draco cheerfully when he arrived and went to stand by a broom. The lesson proceeded uneventfully until Neville flew up too high and fell off of his broom, breaking his wrist. Madam Hooch hurried him into the castle leaving the other student behind with strict orders to stay on the ground.

_ No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter. _

_ “Did you see his face, the great lump?” _

Harry groaned to himself. Why did Draco have to be such a bully. It made it really hard for Harry to stick to his resolution to make friends with him.

_ “Look!” said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. “It’s that stupid thing Longbottom’s gran sent him.” _

Harry gave voice to his earlier thought, “Draco why must you be such a bully? Just give it here, you don’t really want to do this and Neville doesn’t need any more trouble.”

Malfoy scowled at him, “How would you know what I want to do, Potter.  _ I think I’ll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree?” _

Draco leapt onto his broomstick and took off. He could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of a tree he called, “Come and get it, Potter!”

_ Harry grabbed his broom. _

_ “No! Shouted Hermione Granger. “Madame Hooch told us not to move - you’ll get us all into trouble.” _

_ Harry ignored her. Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him - and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he’d found something he could do without being taught - this was easy, this was wonderful. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron. _

_ He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned. _

“Come on Draco, give it here,” Harry called, “I don’t really want to have to try to grab it from you. I would hate to accidentally knock you off of your broom.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” said Draco, trying to sneer, but looking worried.

_ Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping. _

“I’m sorry,” Harry said. “I don’t want to hurt you but I can’t just let you take Neville’s Remembrall. If you would just give it back we could both get back on the ground and hopefully not get into trouble. A teacher could be along any minute.”

_ The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy. _

_ “Catch it if you can then!” he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground. _

_ Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down - next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball - wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching - he stretched out his hand - a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist. _

Then Professor McGonagall came running and scolded Harry, taking him back to the castle with her. Harry was certain he was going to be expelled, but it turned out that McGonagall wanted him to be Gryffindor’s Seeker. The youngest in a century. Ron was never going to believe this.

Harry told Ron at supper that night, who was impressed. Then, after Fred and George stopped by to congratulate him, Malfoy showed up.

_ “Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?” _

Harry smiled at Draco, “It was a near thing but I’ve been given a reprieve. That was some pretty good flying today, Draco. Would you like to go flying with me some time? You could show me some of your moves. I’m sure you must have some good ones.”

Malfoy glared at Harry, “I don’t need your pity, Potter.” Then he paused and looked thoughtful, “Some night flying could be fun, though. Why don’t you meet me at the trophy room, tonight at midnight. I know where to get ahold of a couple of brooms. I’ll see you there, Potter.”

After Draco left, Ron turned to Harry. “You’re not going to go are you? Malfoy must be up to something.”

Harry shrugged, “Of course I’m going to go. This is the first time Draco has asked me to do anything with him I’m not going to pass that up.”

“Then I’m coming with you. I’m not going to let you meet up with Malfoy after curfew alone. Who knows what he might try to do to you.”

Ron and Harry were stopped by Hermione as they tried to sneak out of the common room that night and she ended up trapped outside of the Gryffindor tower with them. Then they picked up Neville who had been unable to get in that night because he forgot the password. The four students made their way to the trophy room but it was Filch who came in looking for them, not Malfoy. A midnight chase through the castle followed which ended with the four going through a locked door at the end of a corridor. And coming face to face with a monstrous three headed dog on the other side.

They left that room in a hurry and ran all the way back to the common room. Once they were back there Hermione pointed out to the boys that the dog had been guarding a trapdoor, when they speculated on what it had been doing there. Then she glared at them.

_ “I hope you’re pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.” _

_ Ron stared after her, his mouth open. _

_ “No, we don’t mind,” he said. “You’d think we dragged her along, wouldn’t you?” _

Harry went back to bed thinking about the events of that night. He wondered if the dog was guarding whatever Hagrid had retrieved from Gringotts. It fit all the facts that Harry had so far. ‘I wonder what is so important that Dumbledore would risk bringing something like that animal into a school?’ Harry thought as he went to sleep.

Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three headed dog had been and excellent adventure, the next morning and Harry filled Ron in on his speculations about what the dog could be guarding. It turned out that Neville and Hermione weren’t interested in discussing it with the two boys. In fact Hermione was refusing to speak to them. Ron was rather pleased by this but Harry was disappointed. He rather wanted to be friends with Hermione since she reminded him so much of Emily.

Trying to figure out a way he could make it up to Hermione, reminded Harry of Draco. Harry wanted to make friends with Draco, too, if only because he thought his Dad would like it if they were friends but Draco wasn’t making it easy. Harry sighed in frustration. Why were friends so hard. He was glad he had Ron at least.

Harry’s thought were interrupted by the arrival of the mail. To his surprise, a long thin parcel was delivered to him, accompanied by a letter. Harry and Ron left the hall quickly to unwrap the broom contained in the package in private before their first class but they were interrupted by Malfoy. Harry was torn between pleasure and regret by Draco’s response to realizing that Harry had been given a Nimbus Two Thousand. The look of horror on Draco’s face was kind of funny and he felt that the other boy kind of deserved it after he had tried to get them in trouble. On the other hand Harry realized that this meant that he probably wasn’t going to be able to get Draco to like him after all.

Harry didn’t have much time to worry about making friends over the next few weeks. He was too busy with Quidditch practice three times a week on top of his regular schoolwork. Soon it was Halloween and they were ready to start to make objects fly in Charms class. It proved to be very hard and most of the class had trouble making their feathers fly. Ron was particularly upset by the end of the class because he was paired with Hermione who was still mad at him. Hermione of course was able to perform the charm and her correction of Ron’s pronunciation was not gracefully given or well received.

_ “It’s no wonder no one can stand her,” he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, “she’s a nightmare, honestly.” _

_ Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Harry caught a glimpse of her face - and was startled to see that she was in tears. _

“Ron,” Harry snapped, “Did you have to be so mean. She heard you!”

_ “So?” said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. “She must’ve noticed she’s got no friends.” _

Harry worried about Hermione for the rest of the day, especially since she didn’t show up for their next class. When he asked around Parvati Patil told him that Hermione was crying in the girls bathroom and didn’t want to to disturbed. Ron looked still more awkward when he heard this but there wasn’t anything they could do about it as long as she was in the bathroom.

Soon it was time to go to the Halloween feast. When they got there the decorations put Hermione out of their minds, until Professor Quirrell showed up talking about a troll in the dungeons before fainting dramatically. In the confusion of the students being taken back to their dormitories, Harry and Ron slipped away from the others to find Hermione and warn her about the troll. Unfortunately, the troll found her first, which is how Harry and Ron found themselves in the now demolished second floor bathroom with an unconscious troll listening to Hermione lying to a teacher. 

_ From that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other and knocking out a twelve foot mountain troll is one of them _


	8. Quidditch and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry plays his first Quidditch game and his broom is jinxed. Harry finds it's a lot harder keeping his secret when his friends think his Dad is trying to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All italics are a direct quote from the books.

The Quidditch season began in November. Harry had thought he was busy before but he was even busier now with all the last minute practice Wood was making them do. Luckily, Hermione was being a big help with his homework now that they were friends.

When Professor Snape confiscated Harry’s library copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages,_ the day before the game, Harry was more concerned with how badly his Dad was limping than the lost library book. That evening he decided he would try to get the book back, as an excuse to see his Dad again and maybe find something out about what happened to his leg. Harry knew it would be harder to talk to him with other teachers around but he didn’t want to wait until he had a chance to see his Dad alone.

When Harry knocked on the staff room door and received no answer he pushed the door open slightly, and peered inside - and a horrible sight met his eyes.

_Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages._

_“Blasted thing,” Snape was saying. “How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?”_

Harry forgot the need for concealment in his worry about his Dad and pushed the door open farther. He was just about to speak when his Dad saw him.

_“Potter!”_

_Snape’s face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped._ He had almost called Professor Snape ‘Dad’ in front of Filch! He quickly spoke.

_“I just wondered if I could have my book back.”_

_“GET OUT! OUT!”_

Satisfied that Filch wasn’t likely to suspect anything, Harry left and sprinted upstairs. Now he knew what had happened to his Dad but it didn’t ease his worries any. His Dad’s leg looked pretty bad. He couldn’t help telling Ron and Hermione about it when he got back to the common room.

_“Did you get it?” Ron asked as Harry joined them. “What’s the matter?”_

_In a low whisper, Harry told them what he he’d seen._

“That’s why Professor Snape’s been limping. His leg looks really bad and I don’t think he’s gotten Madam Pomfrey to look at it or anything.” Harry stopped talking abruptly as he remembered that he shouldn’t be so worried about the professor who hated him so much.

Ron’s whispered excitedly, “Do you think he was trying to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween? I’ll bet that’s where he was going when we saw him - he’s after whatever it’s guarding! And I’m sure he let that troll in, to make a diversion!”

_Hermione’s eyes were wide._

_“No - he wouldn’t,” she said. “I know he’s not very nice, but he wouldn’t try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe.”_

“Hermione’s right, Ron, Professor Snape wouldn’t do that. The troll probably was a diversion and Professor Snape realized it. He was likely making sure no one went after the - whatever it is - while the other professors were after the troll. I wonder what they were after? What is that dog guarding?”

When Harry went to breakfast on the morning of his first Quidditch match he was distracted from his pre-game nerves by the sight of Moony sitting at the Head Table talking to his Dad. He waved at Moony, who nodded back with a smile as he arrived at the Gryffindor table. He sat down to a barrage of questions from the other student who had seen him wave.

“Who’s that with Snape?”

“How do you know him?”

“Wasn’t the the one who was with you at the train station?”

Harry turned to Ron who had asked the last question. “Yes, he’s the one who took me to catch the Hogwarts Express.” He looked around at the other curious faces, “His name is Remus Lupin. I know him because he was with Professor Snape when he took me to get my school supplies. As for who he is,” Harry stopped to to eat some of the toast he had been buttering then continued. “He’s Professor Snape’s boyfriend.” The table fell silent as Harry calmly continued to eat his breakfast.

Harry’s jitters were back by the time he was in the locker room changing into his Quidditch robes but the game started well. Harry stayed up out of the way of the other players as he watched for a sign of the Snitch. It was spotted once and lost again when the Captain of the Slytherin team, Marcus Flint fouled Harry as he raced for the Snitch. As play continued after Gryffindor’s penalty shot, Harry started having trouble with his broom. It was like it was trying to buck him off. When Harry tried to turn back towards the Gryffindor goal posts to ask for a time out he realized that his broom was completely out of his control.

Snape and Lupin watched in concern as Harry started flying erratically. Severus quietly exclaimed, “Moony! Someone’s jinxing Harry’s broom! See if you can figure out who it is while I try to counter it.” Lupin started scanning the crowd as Snape fixed his eyes on Harry and started muttering nonstop under his breath. Just as Harry’s broom started to roll over and over, with him just barely hanging on Lupin looked past Snape and saw Quirrell, who was also muttering under his breath as he kept his eyes fixed on Harry. He carefully made his way behind Severus and ‘accidentally’ stumbled into Quirrell, sending him falling face first into the row below him.

Up in the air Harry was suddenly able to climb back onto his broom, which he had been hanging from by only one hand. As he settled himself back on the broom and started to head towards the ground he noticed a flash of gold. He swerved towards it and reached out to catch the Snitch. Gryffindor had won the match!

After the match the entire house went back to the Gryffindor common room to celebrate their victory. When they got there Hermione and Ron tried to find Harry but he was nowhere to be seen. Harry was down in Snape’s quarters with his Dad preparing him some hot chocolate.

“It was Quirrell,” Lupin explained. “He was cursing your broomstick. As soon as I knocked him down you regained control of your broom.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked.

“I have had my suspicions of him for a while,” said Snape. “What he did today confirmed them. I want you to stay away from Professor Quirrell, Harry.”

“I kinda still need to attend classes with him, Dad.”

“Of course, you should attend class but I don't want you alone with him. I think he is working for the Dark Lord, trying somehow to bring him back.”

Harry's jaw dropped, “He's working for You-know-who! Are you sure?”

“I can’t be completely sure but it seems likely, what is hidden in the school this year is something the Dark Lord would dearly love to get ahold of.”

“What is hidden here? Is it what Hagrid was fetching from Gringotts on my birthday?”

“Yes, the item Hagrid removed from Gringotts has been concealed here but you do not need to worry about that, Harry. It is well guarded and I am keeping an eye on things. Now that my suspicions of Quirrell have been confirmed I will be watching him as well. I want you to concentrate on staying safe, do not do the Dark Lord’s work for him by putting yourself in dangerous positions, son.”

“Is that how you hurt your leg on Halloween? Keeping an eye on things? I know you had gone up to the third floor corridor after the troll got in.”

“Yes, Harry. I was suspicious of how a troll could have gotten into the castle and I thought that it might have been meant as a distraction. When I went to check on the traps set to guard the object I had a little trouble with Hagrid’s Fluffy.”

Harry’s mind boggled. It made sense that that three headed monstrosity belonged to Hagrid, but _Fluffy_? “How is your leg, anyways?”

“I’m fine, Harry. I cleaned it well and it’s healing nicely.”

“That’s good. Harry finished his hot chocolate and got up to go. “I’d better get back to the common room. I’m sure Ron and Hermione are wondering where I am. Thank you for coming to see me play, Moony. I’ll see you on the holidays. Bye Dad.”

As soon as Harry got back to the common room, Hermione pounced on him. “Harry are you ok? We got worried when we didn’t see you. I thought that maybe Snape got ahold of you. He was the one cursing your broomstick you know.”

Ron joined in, “Yeah, he was muttering and he wouldn’t take his eyes off of you. He’s definitely out to get you.”

“Professor Snape wouldn’t do that!” Harry exclaimed. Then he stopped and looked around. “We can’t talk about this here,” he whispered. “Come on, the dormitory should be empty since everyone is here.”

Once they were up in the first year boys dormitory Hermione started again. “Harry, Snape is trying to kill you. I know what I saw. I’ve read all about jinxes! You’ve got to keep eye contact and Snape wasn’t blinking at all, I saw him! Then when he was distracted by Mr. Lupin bumping into Professor Quirrell, you were able to get back onto your broom.”

“Hermione, Professor Snape isn’t trying to kill me. Believe me, if there is anything I’m sure of it’s that. Why would he be trying to kill me anyways?”

“You saw him yesterday. He knows that you know he was trying to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. He’s probably trying to stop you from telling anyone.” Ron explained.

“I already told you that Professor Snape wasn’t trying to steal anything! He’s been trying to protect it! Hermione, please tell me that you don’t agree with this nonsense.”

“If Snape isn’t up to anything then why is he trying to kill you?” exclaimed Hermione.

Harry groaned, “I already told you that he’s definitely not trying to kill me. You’ve got to believe me. You’re making a mistake because you don’t have all the facts.”

“Well, if we don’t have all the facts then tell us what we’re missing! Because from where we stand it sure looks like Snape was trying to kill you!”

“I can’t tell you everything. At least not yet. But think about it, do you really think he would try to curse me when he had Lupin right beside him? Lupin would definitely recognize someone casting a curse if he saw it. Really, if Professor Snape wanted to do me in, he would just have to wait until I had detention with him again. No witnesses and the perfect opportunity to give me something untraceable that would make my death look completely natural. I’m sure he has the perfect potion.” Harry stopped. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say. Ron and Hermione were looking really worried now.

“That’s it!” declared Ron. “I’m not letting you serve detention with Snape alone again!”

“I was just joking, Ron. For the third time, Professor Snape wouldn’t do anything to hurt me!” Harry realized that he probably wasn’t about to convince his friends of this anytime soon and decided to change the subject. “Anyways, I found something out today about that three-headed dog. His name’s Fluffy and he belongs to Hagrid. I also think Hagrid is the one who brought - whatever it is - to Hogwarts from Gringotts so maybe we can get him to tell us more about it. Let’s go visit him tomorrow.”

The next day Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to Hagrid’s hut.

“Come in, come in! Great game Harry! That was a nice catch, ‘specially after what happened with yer broomstick.” Hagrid greeted them at the door.

“It was Snape,” Ron explained, “Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing Harry’s broomstick.”

Harry sighed, “Ron, not this again. I already told you. It wasn’t Professor Snape!” He turned to Hagrid, “We wanted to ask you about Fluffy.”

Hagrid dropped to teapot he had just picked up. _“How do you know about Fluffy?” he said._

“Why is he in the castle?” Harry asked, “What is he guarding?”

“That’s top secret, that is,” said Hagrid gruffly.

“But Snape’s trying to steal it,” Hermione exclaimed.

_“Rubbish,” said Hagrid. “Snape’s a Hogwarts teacher, he’d do nothin’ of the sort.”_

_“So why did he try to kill Harry, yesterday?” cried Hermione_ . _“I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I’ve read all about them! You’ve got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn’t blinking at all, I saw him!”_

_“I’m tellin’ yeh, yer wrong!” said Hagrid hotly. “I don’ know why Harry’s broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn’ try an’ kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh - yer meddlin’ in things that don’ concern yeh. It’s dangerous. You forget that dog, an’ you forget what it’s guardin’ that’s between Professor Dumbledore an’ Nicolas Flamel -”_

_“Aha!” said Harry,_ his annoyance at Ron and Hermione’s theory momentarily forgotten _“so there’s someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?”_

_Hagrid looked furious with himself._


	9. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry needs to talk to his Dad so he is determined to get detention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are direct quotes from the books.

Harry stood outside the door to the potions classroom and took a deep breath. He had told Hermione and Ron that he had forgotten something in the dormitory, so that they would go to class without him, and now he was waiting for the perfect moment to enter the classroom. Harry checked the time. Professor Snape should be done with roll call now and starting the lesson, perfect. He pushed open the door and strolled into the classroom, a cocky smile on his face.

“How good of you to join us, Mr. Potter.” Snape’s cold voice dripped with sarcasm.

“I always try to make time for my adoring fans.” Harry snarked.

Then he turned to Malfoy, “Hey Draco, you never did come flying with me. Would tomorrow work for you? Let me know, ok?”

Harry continued to stroll towards his desk, greeting his classmates on the way.

“Hey Seamus, mate, how’s it going? Neville! Looking good, man.” Harry clapped his hand on Neville’s back as he passed, making the other boy flinch.

“So ready to learn, Ron?” Harry asked as he finally reached the spot Ron had saved for him. 

“Because I’m not. I’m ready for a nap,” Harry yawned and stretched. “Or maybe I can stir up enough excitement to keep myself awake,” he stage whispered to Hermione on the other side of Ron.

“What are you doing!” Hermione hissed. “You’re going to get detention!”

“That’s the idea,” Harry winked at Hermione and Ron,.”It’s been too long since I’ve had a chance to scrub out those cauldrons. I’ve been missing it.”

Ron stared at Harry, “Are you mental! Snape’s trying to kill you!” he whispered urgently.

Harry’s good humour disappeared and he frowned at Ron. “Not that again! Snape isn’t trying to kill me and I don’t appreciate you insisting he is!”

Ron shrank back a little, startled by Harry’s sudden anger.

“Potter! I’m sure your conversation is riveting but if you don’t mind I would like to return to the lesson.”

“I don’t mind at all. Go ahead my good man, I’m listening.” Harry flapped his hand towards the professor as he settled himself in.

“Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter.” With that Snape continued to explain the potion that they were going to make that day.

Things were quiet for awhile after that but Ron and Hermione kept glancing worriedly at Harry. They were sure that he had something more up his sleeve, since he hadn’t yet managed to provoke Professor Snape into giving him detention. As the students prepared their potions, Snape moved around the classroom criticizing their work, until he got to Ron and Harry.

“Potter! What are you doing?” Snape glared at Harry who was rapidly preparing potion ingredients and adding them to the brightly coloured potion that Ron was gingerly stirring. His potion didn’t look at all like it was supposed to. Instead of being a clear, still blue it was multi-coloured and bubbling.

“I wasn’t really interested in making the potion you assigned so I decided to do something different.” Harry tossed the last ingredient in and motioned Ron to stand back from the cauldron. 

“Don’t worry it isn’t going to explode,” Harry paused ... “I think.”

The potion continued to bubble and then suddenly it stopped. A single bubble started to form on the surface of the cauldron of liquid and then it separated from the rest of the potion and floated into the air, followed by more and more bubbles. Soon the classroom was filled with multi-coloured bubbles that left colourful splotches wherever they popped. Harry, Ron and Professor Snape were almost completely covered in splotches from standing by the cauldron. The classroom erupted into motion as several student leapt about trying to pop the bubbles while others tried to avoid them. Both Crabbe and Goyle seemed fascinated by the bubbles floating around them while Malfoy crouched between them unsuccessfully trying to avoid being splotched.

Snape observed the mayhem for a few minutes before waving his wand, causing the potion and all the bubbles to disappear. Leaving behind a much more colourful classroom than before.

“I do hope the colours are only temporary, Potter.” He said coldly.

“They should disappear in a few hours Professor.” Harry reassured him.

“Good. Now you and Weasley had better get started on the  _ assigned _ potion. You will be staying right here until it is completed to my satisfaction so you had better work quickly and carefully. And, Potter, I will expect to see you here at 7 tonight for detention. I have a lot of cauldrons that need cleaning.”

Harry was relieved as he laid out the ingredients for the assigned potion, it had taken more work than he had anticipated but he had finally gotten his Dad to give him the detention he wanted. The two boys worked intently on their potion, Harry quietly directing Ron as they both cut and measured ingredients and added them to the cauldron. Everyone else had left the classroom by the time they were finished, except for Hermione who was hovering by the door, waiting for them. Snape examined the potion and reluctantly approved of it and gave them permission to leave once they had cleaned up. As they finished, Ron nervously addressed the professor.

“Sir, I helped Harry make the potion so I think I should get detention as well. It - it isn’t fair otherwise.”

“Weasley, unless you leave the classroom this instant I will give you a detention - to be served with Filch! Now go!”

The two boys quickly left, taking Hermione with them. Snape stood and watched them leave with an unreadable expression on his face, until the door closed behind them. As soon as he was certain that the door was firmly shut and he wouldn’t be heard, Snape collapsed in his chair, helpless with laughter.

When Harry entered the Great Hall for lunch the entire Gryffindor table erupted into applause. Fred and George enthusiastically shook Harry's hand as he sat down.

“We're so proud, so proud.” George wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “They grow up so fast.”

“Too true, the pupil has surpassed the masters.” Fred agreed. “You must give us the recipe for that potion.”

“We could do great things with it. Imagine the possibilities.”

“I think that would be ok.” Harry said slowly, “I'll get it to you tomorrow.”

“Think you're really funny, don't you Potter?” Malfoy interrupted the conversation, “You must really enjoy scrubbing cauldrons like a house elf. I bet it reminds you of being with those muggle relatives of yours. Just like home, eh Potter?”

“Draco!” Harry exclaimed in delight. “I hope you enjoyed the bubbles. The colors in your hair really suit you. It's too bad they're fading already. By the way are you free this afternoon. I'm heading over to Hagrid's and I'd love it if you could join me.”

Malfoy sneered, “Why would I want to visit that savage? You should take Weasley with you, Hagrid’s hut probably seems like a palace to him after his house.” Draco then quickly retreated back to his table as Fred and George glared at him.

Just before 7 that evening Harry hurried towards the potions classroom. Ron and Hermione had spent so long worrying at him about his detention with Snape that he was almost late. He entered the room to find his Dad waiting for him with a pile of dirty cauldrons.

“Dad, are you really going to make me scrub all those out. I need to talk to you.” Harry whined.

“You can talk while you scrub. I can tolerate your cheek but I will not tolerate you disrupting my class. It is not fair to your classmates to interfere with their education like you did today. Do you think either Longbottom or Weasley got anything out of today's lesson?”

“No, I guess not,” Harry muttered as he filled the first cauldron with hot water and started to scrub. “I'm sorry. I just really wanted to make sure that you would give me detention.”

Snape sighed, “We need a better way for you to let me know when you want to spend time with me. Something that's not so disruptive. So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Can I invite Ron home for Christmas? His parents are going on a trip so he would be stuck here at Hogwarts otherwise and I would really like to spend Christmas with him. It would make it a lot easier to give him the Christmas present I had in mind, too.” Harry looked up from his scrubbing with a hopeful expression.

“You do realize that having Ron visit would mean telling him the truth about our relationship. You could hardly keep up the pretense that you were living with the Dursleys still.”

“That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I would like to tell both Ron and Hermione that you're my Dad. I'm sure they'll keep it a secret and it's getting really hard with them not knowing.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Harry. The more people that know a secret the harder it is to keep and you know how important this is.”

“I know, Dad and I’ll make sure that they understand as well. It’s just that, ever since the game, they’ve been convinced that you were the one cursing my broom. They won’t believe me when I tell them that I know it wasn’t you, unless I tell them the truth.” Harry then added with a grin, “And if they know, then they can cover for me when I come to visit you, so I won’t need to try to get detention to get to talk to you.”

Snape smiled at Harry’s final argument. “That would be an improvement,” he admitted dryly. “Ok, you can tell them but I will want to talk to them, too. I want to make sure they understand what is at stake here.”

“Of course. Thank you, Dad.” Harry was silent for a moment and then he asked, “Hey Dad, would it be alright if I gave Fred and George the recipe for the Bubble up Potion?”

“Those two are quite capable of coming up with enough mayhem on their own, they don’t need any help from me. The last thing I want is to find out what they would do with that potion.”

Silence fell as Harry continued to scrub cauldrons and Snape settled down at his desk marking papers. When Harry finally finished the last cauldron he thanked his Dad again and then remembered.

“You never answered my first question. Can I have Ron over for the holidays?”

“Of course you can, if Moony agrees. When are you planning to tell your friends?”

“I’m going wait until the holidays. I think it will be safer to tell them when we aren’t at school. I can fill Ron in once he’s at our house and I can phone Hermione from there, as well. I can put up with them not knowing until then.”

“That sounds like a good plan. You’d better get going. If your friends really think that I’m trying to hurt you then I’m sure that they are worried about you right now. Good night, Harry.”

“Good night, Dad.”

Harry left the classroom to find Ron and Hermione waiting for him in the corridor. They grabbed him and rushed him off to the infirmary to have Madam Pomfrey check him for poisoning. Harry was really glad that he would be able to tell them the truth soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keeping his secret is proving to be a lot harder than Harry had anticipated. The potion Harry brews was created by Snape to entertain Harry when he was a toddler. It was the first potion that Harry learned to brew himself.


	10. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron spends Christmas with Harry. Harry finally is able to tell his friends that Professor Snape is his Dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are quotes from the books.

A couple of days later Harry received a letter from Lupin giving him permission to invite Ron to visit for the holidays. The three friends were planning to visit the library to search for information about Nicolas Flamel so Harry waited until they were there to pull his friends into a quiet corner to talk to them.

“Do you remember how I told you that you didn’t have all the facts about what happened at the game? I want to tell you what I was talking about but I can't do it here at Hogwarts. So I was thinking, Ron would you like to come home with me for the holidays? I can tell you everything there and then I can phone Hermione to tell her as well. But you both have to swear that you won’t tell anyone else about this.”

“Of course we won’t tell anyone, Harry. But I don’t understand why you can’t just tell us now?” Hermione said.

“It just isn't safe. You never know who might be listening.”

“Never mind that,” Ron said. “Are you sure it will be ok for me to visit? I mean I got the impression that those muggles you live with didn't like wizards much.”

“I wouldn't have asked you if it wasn't going to be ok, Ron. You're welcome if you want to come.”

“I'll come. It's got to be better than being stuck at school with my brothers.”

The next few weeks flew by. Soon it was the start of the holidays and time to take the Hogwarts Express back to London. Everyone on the train was in a festive mood and they had a merry journey. As the train pulled into the station Hermione said goodbye to her friends.

“I guess we won’t be able to keep looking for information about Nicolas Flamel until we get back to school.”

_ “You could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is,” said Ron. “It’d be safe to ask them.” _

_ “Very safe, as they’re both dentists,” said Hermione. _

Lupin met the two boys at the train and shrunk their luggage so that he could tuck it into his pocket. They took the underground and then caught the bus to Hadon Gardens. Ron was fascinated by his first real look at Muggle London. When they got to the house at 8 Hadon Gardens, Lupin unlocked the door and ushered the two boys in.

“C’mon, I want to show you my room.” Harry quickly shed his outside stuff and headed into the living room, coming back to put everything away when Lupin scolded him. Soon Harry was leading a very confused Ron through a living room lined with bookcases and up the stairs on the other side. At the top of the stairs Harry opened the door to his room, which was furnished with a bunk bed against one wall and more bookcases.

“I sleep in the top bunk so I hope you don’t mind having the bottom.” Harry said over his shoulder as he slid a panel aside on the wall, revealing even more bookshelves hidden behind it. 

“Aren’t you glad that we made you clean up before you left for school?” Lupin asked as he entered the room pulling their luggage out of his pocket.

Harry turned away from the bookshelves. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything about Nicolas Flamel here, let’s check out the books downstairs.” He left the room and headed downstairs, trailed by his friend.

“What’s going on here, Harry? I thought you lived with your muggle relatives, not Mr. Lupin.” Horror dawned on Ron’s face. “If you live with Mr. Lupin, then that means ... “ he trailed off as they reached the living room to see a familiar figure step out of the fireplace.

“Dad!” cried Harry as he ran over to embrace the wizard. “I wasn’t expecting you until later.”

“With so few students remaining over the break, Dumbledore isn’t being as strict as usual about dinner attendance for the staff so I thought I would come home for supper instead.” Snape looked over at Ron. “I see by the expression on his face that you haven’t filled Ron in on our relationship yet. Maybe you had better rectify that while I go and let Moony know that I’m here.”

Harry grinned at his friend as his Dad left the room. “You should see your face Ron. Now do you see why I was so sure Professor Snape wasn’t trying to kill me?”

“You - Snape, what? How?” was all Ron was able to get out.

“After my parents died, Dumbledore left me with my muggle Aunt and Uncle but when Dad came to check on me, he found that they had locked me in a cupboard, so he took me away from them. Then Moony found out I was with him and ended up staying to help look after me. Of course the neighbours don’t know that we're wizards and they think that Dad is my biological father and that he and Moony are a couple. That’s why I told everyone that Moony is Dad’s boyfriend, it’s what everyone around here thinks anyways and I couldn’t exactly tell anyone the truth. It’s really important that no one find out. Dad will explain why after supper.”

“Trust me, Harry. I’m not about to tell anyone that Snape is your Dad. I wouldn’t want anyone to know either, if it was me.”

Ron found his first evening visiting Harry to be surreal. He was having trouble wrapping his head around the idea that his best friend was the son of the most hated teacher at Hogwarts. Over supper Harry told Lupin about his attempt to get detention in potions class and Ron almost fell out of his chair when Snape started to laugh.

“You should have seen the looks on the students faces, Moony. There were bubbles everywhere and the three of us were covered head to foot in splotches of colour. Even the Weasley twins never managed to disrupt one of my lessons so thoroughly without explosions.” Snape shook his head at Harry in pretend sorrow, “When I invented that potion for you, Harry, I never thought you would use it against me like that. “

After supper Snape explained to Ron why it was so important that no one know about his relationship with Harry. Ron had almost forgotten about Harry being the boy-who-lived over the last few months. Now he was reminded of just what that meant. Snape clearly thought that You-Know-Who was going to return and that the dark wizard would be after Harry. He was also clearly determined to protect Harry from anything that threatened him. Ron soberly promised to keep their secret.

Once Snape was satisfied that Ron properly understood the seriousness of his promise, Harry phoned Hermione. Ron wanted to hear Hermione’s reaction to the news so they put the call on speaker. Soon they heard Hermione’s voice.

“Hi Harry. Are you able to tell me why you are so positive Snape isn’t trying to kill you now?”

Ron shouted, “Hermione! Professor Snape is here and he can hear you!”

Snape spoke, “It’s ok, Harry already told me about your reasons to be suspicious of me, Miss Granger. I admire your knowledge and observational skills even though your conclusions were erroneous.”

There was a short silence and then Hermione spoke again, “Why are you with Professor Snape, Harry?”

“Because I live with him.” Harry responded.

Ron interjected, “Snape is Harry’s Dad.”

“I don’t understand! Harry, I thought you lived with your Aunt and Uncle. How could Professor Snape possibly be your Dad?”

“He rescued me from my Aunt and Uncle when he found out they were mistreating me. He’s been raising me, along with Moony, that is Mr. Lupin, ever since. That’s why I was so sure that Professor Snape wasn’t trying to hurt me. He’s been protecting me ever since I was a baby.”

Snape then explained again the importance of keeping his relationship with Harry a secret and received Hermione’s promise that she would keep the secret. The three friends chatted for a while longer before ending the call. Hermione made Harry and Ron promise that they would look for information about Nicolas Flamel among Snape and Lupin’s books before she hung up.

After the phone call Ron suggested a game of chess. Harry asked Lupin if he could borrow his chess set while Ron fetched his set out of his luggage. Lupin had taught Harry to play but he found that he wasn’t a match for Ron, who was really good. After they had played a few games, Lupin, who had been watching them with Snape, challenged Ron to a game. It turned out that they were much more evenly matched and Harry was enjoyed watching the battle that ensued. Lupin won in the end but it was a near thing. Both adult wizards congratulated Ron on his skill before sending the two boys off to bed.

The next morning Ron was woken up by Harry hanging of the bunk above him.

“Ron, wake up! We’re going to Diagon Alley today to get your Christmas present from me. Come on!”

Soon both boys were dressed and downstairs, eating the breakfast that Lupin had prepared. Ron protesting all the while that Harry didn’t need to get him a present since he didn’t have one for Harry. 

“I know I don’t have to get you a present, Ron, but I want to. You can get me something for my birthday, ok? Now come on!”

When they got to Diagon Alley, Lupin headed for the bookstore while Harry dragged Ron to Ollivanders. When he realized what Harry had in mind Ron tried protesting again but Harry was adamant.

“Look Ron, I’ve been reading about wandlore and you can’t possibly be doing your best with that wand. Ash and Unicorn hair is about the worst combination in a hand me down wand and it’s actually pretty impressive that you are able to do anything at all with that wand. You’re my friend and I don’t want to see you held back by an incompatible wand.” With those words Harry dragged Ron into Ollivanders.

It didn’t take nearly as long for Ollivander to find the right wand for Ron as it had for Harry. Soon Ron was the new owner of a 14” Willow wand with a Unicorn hair core. After Harry paid for the wand they headed to Borgin and Botts to find Lupin, Ron thanking Harry all the while. At the bookstore Harry had Ron help him pick out a gift for Hermione and then he found books for both his Dad and Moony. Then they dragged Lupin out of the store so that they could go get some ice cream at Fortescue's before they headed back to Hadon Gardens.

Christmas morning Harry woke up to a pile of presents at the foot of his bed.

“Merry Christmas,” said Ron sleepily as Harry jumped out of bed.

“Merry Christmas, Ron.” Harry replied, pulling his presents off of his bunk and sitting down on the floor beside the bed with them.

As he started to unwrap the first present, his Dad and Moony came into the room to watch, having heard the two boys talking. The first presents Harry opened were the ones from his parents. Snape had given him some books that he had asked for and Lupin gave him his very own wizard chess set. Then he turned back to the pile and opened the present from Hagrid first.  _ Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it - it sounded a bit like and owl. _

The next present Harry picked up was a very lumpy parcel. Ron groaned as Harry tore open the package. “Oh, no, she’s made you a Weasley sweater.”

Inside the parcel was a thick, hand knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge.

_“Every year she makes us a sweater,” said Ron, unwrapping his own, “and mine’s always_ _maroon.”_

_ “That’s really nice of her,” said Harry, trying the fudge, which was very tasty. _

_ His next present also contained candy - a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione. _

_ This only left one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it. _

_ Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. _

“Hey, it’s James’ old Invisibility Cloak. I wondered what had happened to it.” said Lupin.

_ Harry picked up the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material. _

Snape picked up the note that fell out as Harry lifted up the cloak. “Apparently, Dumbledore had it, I recognize his handwriting.” He handed the note to Harry. Written in narrow, loopy writing were the following words:

_ Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. _

_ Use it well. _

_ A Very Merry Christmas to you. _

“It’s just like Dumbledore to not sign the note. He does enjoy being mysterious.” Snape commented dryly. “So, James Potter had an invisibility cloak? No wonder the four of you were able to get away with so much while you were at Hogwarts,”

Harry tried on the invisibility cloak and watched in the mirror as his reflection disappeared.

“That’s so cool,” said Ron, “I would give anything for one of those.”

Harry pulled off the cloak again and looked at his Dad. “This is great! Having an invisibility cloak will make it so much easier to visit you at Hogwarts! If Ron covers for me no one will even know that I’ve left the dorm.”

“Ok Harry, you can take the cloak back to Hogwarts with you,” Snape said reluctantly. “But remember, having a powerful magical item like this is a great responsibility. You must only use it when necessary to keep yourself safe. I had better not find out that you have been using it to break curfew and to get yourself involved in things that you had best stay out of.”

“I promise, Dad,” Harry replied.

After they had breakfast, Harry gave his parents the presents he had bought for them. Then he broke in his new chess set by losing to Ron. He didn’t lose as badly as usual though, probably because Lupin had given him some advice as they played. Then it was time to go over to the neighbours for Christmas dinner. Mrs. Brown had been inviting them over ever since that first Christmas when Snape and Harry had just moved in. She was convinced that a couple of young men were incapable of preparing a proper Christmas dinner and she wasn’t going to let them go without.

The Brown’s house was full of people, as it always was at Christmas. The couple's grandchildren enthusiastically greeted Harry and pulled him and Ron into a card game that they were playing. Harry quietly explained the rules to Ron, since he had never played the muggle card game before. Meanwhile, Snape and Lupin joined the men talking in the living room as the women put the finishing touches on Christmas dinner. Ron found that his first muggle Christmas dinner was a lot more fun than he had anticipated. The food was just as good as anything they had eaten at Hogwarts and afterwards the children were all sent to play outside.

By the time the four wizards returned to Snape’s house the two boys were cold and wet and tired. They changed into dry clothes and then they were ready for a supper of the leftovers that Mrs. Brown had sent home with them. After which Harry watched Ron play chess against Lupin until it was time for them to head up to bed.

Emily came over to visit on boxing day and she and Harry taught Ron some more muggle games. Emily also filled Harry in on everything that had happened to her at her new school while Harry told her some carefully edited stories about Hogwarts. As much as Harry enjoyed seeing Emily again, it was rather a relief that her visit wasn’t any longer since there was so much he wanted to tell her that he couldn’t.

The rest of the holidays passed uneventfully. Harry and Ron searched the books in the house for a mention of Nicolas Flamel some more but they mostly just hung out in Harry’s room or played chess in the living room. Lupin and Snape kept the two boys well fed, they were both surprisingly good cooks. At least it was surprising to Ron. Ron was still having trouble with how different Snape was in his own home. It never failed to astonish him whenever he heard the professor laugh at something Lupin or Harry had said. All too soon it was time to catch the train back to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Harry wasn't just going to tell Ron that he lived with Snape. Were's the fun in that?


	11. The Mirror and The Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Ron discover the Mirror of Erised and Dumbledore reveals that he is a creepy stalker. Harry and his friends figure out what Fluffy is guarding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All italics are direct quotes from the books.

Harry, Ron and Hermione managed to get a compartment to themselves on the Hogwarts Express on their way back to school after the Christmas break.

“So did you find anything out about Nicolas Flamel?” Hermione demanded once they were alone.

“Nothing,” reported Harry, “I even asked Lupin and he had no idea who Flamel was.”

“Maybe you can get Professor Snape to give you permission to access the restricted section of the library.”

“No chance. He would want to know why I needed to look in there and if he wanted me to know what Fluffy was guarding he would have told me already. I don’t want him to know that I’m still trying to figure out what it is.” 

That night Harry was still thinking about how they could possibly get access to the restricted section, when he remembered his cloak. He woke up Ron and they slipped out of the tower hidden from sight under the cloak. The restricted section was a bust. The books shrieked and attracted Filch’s attention. Ron and Harry ran through the halls without keeping track of where they were going until they heard Filch again.

_ “You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody’s been in the library - Restricted Section.” _

To Harry’s horror Snape replied,  _ “The Restricted Section? Well, they can’t be far, we’ll catch them.” _

Harry couldn't let his Dad catch them. He would be in so much trouble for using the cloak to sneak around after curfew. He silently pulled Ron to a nearby door that stood ajar. They slipped through the door as the two men passed by. As Harry leaned against the wall listening to their footsteps dying away, Ron slipped out from under the cloak and looked around the room they found themselves in.

“Hey, Harry, look at this.”

_ It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top:  _ Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

Harry moved to look in the mirror wanting to look at himself but see no reflection again. Instead of seeing only the reflection of the room when he stepped in front of the mirror he saw himself flanked by two people he recognized from the picture hanging in his bedroom at home. His mother and father were standing right behind him. His mother was smiling but crying at the same time and his father put his arm around her. Then Harry noticed his Dad standing beside his mother, their arms linked. He looked to the other side of his father and saw Moony standing there as well, his arm thrown over James’ shoulder. They all looked so right together like that Harry could hardly stop looking.

“Ron come and see this. My mother and father are here. It’s amazing.”

Ron came over.

_ “See?” Harry whispered. _

_ “I can’t see anything.” _

_ “Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am.” _

_ Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he couldn’t see his family anymore, just Ron in his paisley pajamas. _

_ Ron though was staring transfixed at his image. _

_ “Look at me!” he said.  _ “I’m Head Boy!”

“What?”

_ “I am - I’m wearing the badge like Bill used to - and I’m holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup - Quidditch captain, too!” _

_ Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry. “Do you think this mirror shows the future?” _

“How can it? My parents are dead - let me have another look -”

_ “Give me a bit more time.” _

_ “You’re only holding the Quidditch Cup, what’s interesting about that? I want to see my parents.” _

_ “Don’t push me -” _

_ A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion. They hadn’t realized how loudly they had been talking. _

_ “Quick!” _

_ Ron threw the cloak back over them as the luminous eyes of Mrs Norris came round the door. Ron and Harry stood quite still, both thinking the same thing - did the cloak work on cats? After what seemed an age, she turned and left. _

_ “This isn’t safe - she might have gone for Filch, I bet she heard us. Come on.” _

_ And Ron pulled Harry out of the room. _

The next day both Ron and Hermione noticed that Harry seemed distracted. He hardly ate and didn’t pay any attention in class. Ron told Hermione about the mirror and they both tried to convince Harry not to go back to it. But Harry only had one thought in his head, to get back in front of the mirror, and his friends weren’t going to stop him.

That night Harry quickly found his way back to the mirror. He settled on the floor in front of the mirror watching his family, together as they should be.

_ “So - back again Harry?” _

Harry looked behind him to find Albus Dumbledore sitting on one of the desks by the wall. Harry must have walked straight past him, without noticing.

_ “I - I didn’t see you, sir.” _

_ “Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you,” said Dumbledore, and Harry was relieved to see he was smiling. _

_ “So,” said Dumbledore, slipping off the desk to sit on the floor with Harry, “you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised.” _

_ “I didn’t know it was called that, sir.” _

_ “But I expect you’ve realized by now what it does?” _

_ “It - well - it shows me my family -” _

_ “And it showed your friend Ron himself as Head Boy.” _

_ “How did you know -?” _

_ “I don’t need a cloak to become invisible,” said Dumbledore gently. “Now, can you think of what the Mirror shows us all?” _

_ Harry shook his head. _

_ “Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?” _

_ Harry thought. Then he said slowly, “It shows us what we want … whatever we want ..” _

_ “Yes and no,” said Dumbledore quietly. “It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. _

_ “The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don’t you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?” _

It wasn’t until he was back in bed did Harry really think about what Dumbledore had said. It was clear that he had been listening to them when Harry and Ron had first discovered the mirror, without their knowledge. As he fell asleep Harry vowed to himself he would be more careful about what he said in the castle. Especially if he was talking about anything that he didn’t want Dumbledore to know about. 

With the holidays over, Quidditch practice had started again. When Wood told the team that Snape would be refereeing their next match, against Hufflepuff, they were upset. George Weasley fell off his broom at the news.

_ “Snape’s refereeing?” he spluttered through a mouthful of mud. “When’s he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He’s not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin.” _

_ The rest of the team landed next to George to complain, too.  _ Harry joined in on the complaints but he secretly felt relieved. He was under no illusions about his Dad being a fair referee. He knew all about the rivalry between his Dad and McGonagall and his Dad wasn’t above using his position as referee to keep the Gryffindor team from overtaking the Slytherins. But at least he knew he would be safe from anything Quirrell might try during the match.

At the end of practice Harry found Ron and Hermione playing chess.  _ Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her. _ Harry told them about Snape refereeing the game.

“Well that’s good,” whispered Hermione. “He’ll be able to protect you if he’s right there the whole time.”

Ron wasn’t so sure. “Snape is going to want Gryffindor to lose so that Slytherin will stay in the lead for the House cup. Unless … do you think that he might favour Gryffindor now that you’re on the team?” He asked Harry hopefully.

“Not a chance,” Harry responded cheerfully. Before he could say more Neville fell into the common room with his legs stuck together by the Leg-Locker Curse. After Hermione released Neville, the three friends attempted to comfort the upset boy, who had had a run in with Draco Malfoy. Harry gave him the last Chocolate Frog from the box Hermione had given him for Christmas.

_ ‘You’re worth twelve of Malfoy,” Harry said, “The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn’t it? And where’s Malfoy? In Slytherin.” _

After Neville left, Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card that Neville had handed back to him and finally found where he had heard of Nicolas Flamel before. On the back of the card was written:

_ ‘Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel.’ _

The mention of alchemy was enough for Hermione to find more about Flamel. Nicolas Flamel was the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone. The stone which could produce the Elixir of Life that would make the drinker immortal. They had finally figured out what Fluffy was guarding!

At the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, Snape favored the Hufflepuff team as Harry had expected. But Gryffindor still won, thanks to Harry catching the Snitch in record time. After the match Harry saw his Dad sneaking into the forbidden forest. Idly wondering what his Dad was up to Harry returned his broom to the shed and went back into the castle for dinner. 

At dinner Ron told Harry all about the fight he and Neville had gotten into with Malfoy and his goons. “I gave Malfoy a black eye and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single handed. Moony stopped us before we could really get into it though.”

“And a good thing, too,” declared Hermione. “Neville could have been really hurt.”


	12. Dealing with a Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and his friends help Hagrid with his dragon. Harry has an encounter in the Forbidden Forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are direct quotes from the books.

Nothing much happened until after the Easter break, other than an increased workload and Hermione stressing about the upcoming exams. Then, on one fine spring day, the three friends discovered that Hagrid had a dragon’s egg in his fireplace. 

_ “Where did you get it, Hagrid?” said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. “It must’ve cost you a fortune.” _

_ “Won it,” said Hagrid. “Las’ night. I was down in the village havin’ a few drinks an’ got into a game of card with a stranger. Think he was quite glad to get rid of it, ter be honest.” _

_ “But what are you going to do with it when it’s hatched?” said Hermione. _

_ “Well, I’ve been doing some reading’,” said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. “Got this outta the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it’s a bit outta date o’ course, but it’s all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, ‘cause their mothers breathe on ‘em, an’ when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o’ brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An’ see here - how ter recognize diff’rent eggs - what I got there’s a Norwegian Ridgeback. They’re rare, them.” _

_ He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn’t. _

_ “Hagrid, you live in a wooden house,” she said. _

_ But Hagrid wasn’t listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire. _

At breakfast time a few days later, Hedwig brought Harry a note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: “It’s hatching.”

Ron wanted to go to Hagrid’s right away but Hermione didn’t want to miss class. In the end they agreed to run down to Hagrid’s during the morning break. While they were debating, Harry noticed that Malfoy seemed to be listening to them with an unpleasant expression on his face. 

They got there just in time to see the egg hatch. The dragon wasn’t exactly pretty but Hagrid was enchanted, and named it Norbert. Unfortunately Malfoy had followed them and peeked in the window of Hagrid’s hut. As they walked to their next class Harry worried about Draco having seen the dragon.

“I don’t trust him not to try to get Hagrid in trouble.”

“Maybe you could get Professor Snape to help, Harry. I’m sure he would know what to do.” Hermione suggested.

“I can’t tell him about this. Raising dragons is illegal, Hagrid would get in trouble. We need to figure out how to deal with this on our own.”

It wasn’t until the three were visiting Hagrid a week later that Harry had an inspiration.

_ Harry suddenly turned to Ron. _

_ “Charlie,” he said. _

_ “You’re losing it, too,” said Ron, “I’m Ron, remember?” _

_ “No - Charlie - your brother Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and the put him back in the wild!” _

_ “Brilliant!” said Ron. “How about it Hagrid?” _

_ And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him. _

So they sent an owl to Charlie and then waited a week for his reply. During that week Norbert grew bigger and more unmanageable, finally biting Ron who ended up in the infirmary. So it was Harry and Hermione who snuck the dragon to the top of the tallest tower to meet Charlie’s friends, under Harry’s Invisibility cloak. Unfortunately, they forgot the cloak on the tower and were caught by Filch when they came down. Then to make matters worse Neville was caught trying to find them to warn them about Draco. After taking one hundred and fifty points from them and detentions all around, McGonagall sent them back to bed. Knowing that Draco had also been caught out of bed and had detention as well was no comfort after that.

The rest of the term before exams was miserable. No one had lost that many points before in one night. Harry was determined not to meddle in things that weren’t his business from then on.

A week before exams, Harry’s decision was put to the test. He heard whimpering coming from a classroom as he was walking from the library on his own. As he drew closer he heard Quirrell.

_ “No - no - not again, please -” _

_ It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry moved closer. _

_ “All right - all right -” he heard Quirrell sob. _

_ Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. _ Harry peered into the classroom after Quirrell left but it was empty. A door stood ajar at the other end of the room. Harry wondered who had been in there with Quirrell. He wanted to tell his Dad but he had lost his invisibility cloak on the night they had sent Norbert away.

When Harry told Hermione and Ron about what he had overheard, Hermione wanted to tell Dumbledore but Harry didn’t think that the headmaster would listen without more information. They weren’t even sure what Quirrell was up to or who he was talking to.

The following day, Harry, Hermione, Neville and Draco were assigned the detention Professor McGonagall had promised them. They were to help Hagrid track down an injured unicorn in the forbidden forest.

On hearing this Neville let out a little moan and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.

_ “The forest?” he repeated, and he didn’t sound quite as cool as usual. “We can’t go in there at night - there’s all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard. _

_ Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry’s robe and made a choking noise. _

Harry looked up at the full moon shining behind the clouds and thought about Moony. “Don’t worry Neville, I’m sure there are no werewolves in the forbidden forest. I doubt they would want to be so close to Hogwarts when there are other more secluded locations they could go to transform.”

Werewolves or not, they all had to go into the forest. Neville and Draco went with Hagrid’s dog Fang while Harry and Hermione went with Hagrid. After they heard an unknown being slithering over the dead trees, they encountered a couple of centaurs. Hagrid questioned them about the happenings in the forest and was informed that Mars was bright that night. Draco of course couldn’t resist frightening Neville, who was already nervous about being in the forest, so Hagrid switched the groups. Now Harry was with Draco and Fang while the other two students went with Hagrid.

Harry chatted with Draco as they walked deeper into the forest. He told him about the encounter with the centaurs and when Draco didn’t seem interested he tried other topics. All to no avail. Draco just wasn’t interested in talking to Harry. After about half an hour they found the dead unicorn and a hooded figure crawling across the grass towards it. As the figure began to drink the unicorns blood Malfoy let out a scream and bolted, along with Fang.

_ The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry - unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly towards Harry - he couldn’t move for fear. _

_ Then a pain like he’d never felt before pierced his head; it was as though his scar was on fire. Half blinded, he staggered backward. He heard hooves behind him, galloping and something jumped clean over Harry, charging at the figure. _

_ The pain in Harry’s head was so bad he fell to his knees. It took a moment or two to pass. When he looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body. _

The centaur let Harry ride on the way out of the forest, to the dismay of the other centaurs. On the way he explained to Harry what the being was doing.

_ “The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.” _

Harry connected the dots. The Philosopher’s stone, which could create the Elixir of Life was in the castle and his Dad thought that Quirrell was working for the Dark Lord! That was why Quirrell was after the Stone and it was Voldemort that he had just seen in the forest!

The centaur, Firenze, left Harry with Hagrid and the others and returned to the forest. As they went back to the castle Harry had one thought. He needed to see his Dad.

Back at the common room Harry told Ron and Hermione about what had happened in the forest. 

“I saw him. You-Know-Who was there in the forest. He would have killed me if Firenze hadn’t saved me. I need to see my Dad. I have to tell him what’s going on!”

“You can’t go now, Harry,” said Ron, “It’s after midnight and you don’t have your cloak. Maybe you’ll get a chance to talk to him tomorrow.”

_ Hermione agreed and added a word of comfort. “Everyone says Dumbledore’s the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around You-Know-Who won’t touch you.” _

“I guess you’re right Hermione. I’m going to bed. Maybe if I get up early tomorrow I can find a way to talk to my Dad then.”

_ When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his Invisibility Cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it: Just in case. _

“Ron, look it’s my cloak! I’m going to my Dad. If I’m not back by the time everyone’s up, can you tell them I’m sleeping in?” Harry closed the curtains around his bed, pulled on the cloak and left.

Soon Harry was knocking on the door of his Dad’s quarters in the dungeon. The door was opened by a sleepy looking Snape, who looked out into the apparently empty corridor and stood aside to let his invisible son slip in. As soon as the door was closed again Harry pulled off his cloak and blurted out what had happened in the forest.

Snape paled as he listened to Harry’s story and he pulled his son into a tight embrace.”Thank God for that centaur,” he whispered fervently. “What was Minerva thinking, sending a bunch of first years into the Forbidden forest with only that oaf, Hagrid, for protection. You were almost killed!”

“To be fair, Dad, it’s not like either McGonagall or Hagrid knew that You-Know-Who was in the forest. I’m sure it would have been safe enough in normal circumstances. Dad, do you think Quirrell will be able to get the Stone? The centaurs seemed to think that You-Know-Who is coming back. Bane was furious with Firenze for saving me - he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen. Like my death is written in the stars.”

“Harry, Dumbledore had several of us teachers help him protect the Stone, as well as setting Fluffy to guard the way to it. The final protection is something Dumbledore himself set up. I might not like the man but he is the only one that the Dark Lord fears and he would do anything to ensure that You-Know-Who does not return to power. I am sure that he will prevent Quirrell from handing the Stone over to the Dark Lord. I will make sure that the Headmaster hears about what you saw in the forest so that he knows to take appropriate precautions. Now, you had better head back to bed. You need your sleep.”

“Can I stay here with you? Ron’s going to cover for me tomorrow morning so I should be able to get back to the dorm tomorrow morning without anyone being the wiser.”

“Of course you can, let’s get you to bed.”


	13. Trapdoor and Trials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes through the trapdoor Fluffy is guarding and encounters Quirrell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are direct quotes from the books.
> 
> This chapter ended up being a long one.

Harry had been having nightmares all year but after his trip to the forest, the nightmares became so frequent that he gave up on sleeping in the dorm at all. He would wait until the other boys were asleep and then pulling on his cloak he would creep down to his Dad’s rooms and spend the night there. He wasn’t sure how he would have gotten through exams without those nights with his Dad. Especially since he had begun experiencing stabbing pains in his forehead as well. His Dad was able to keep him well supplied with a headache draught that helped with the worst of the pain.

It was after they had finished their last exam, that Harry realized something. Hagrid had met a stranger that just happened to have a dragon egg, something that Hagrid had always wanted, the year that he just happened to have helped protect a powerful magical artifact. Harry sprinted across the grounds to Hagrid’s hut followed by his friends. When Harry questioned Hagrid about the stranger that the gameskeeper had won the egg, from he found that his fears were justified.

_ “And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?” Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm. _

_ “Well - yeah - how many three-headed dogs d’yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy’s a piece o’ cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus’ play him a bit o’ music an’ he’ll go straight off ter sleep -” _

_ Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. _

_ “I shouldn’ta told yeh that!” he blurted out. “Forget I said it! Hey - where’re yeh goin’?” _

_ Harry, Ron and Hermione didn’t speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds. _

“We’ve got to let my - Professor Snape know,” said Harry. “Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Quirrell or You-Know-Who under that cloak - it must’ve been easy, once he’d got Hagrid drunk.”

_ “What are you three doing inside?” _

_ It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books. _

Harry hesitated. He couldn’t tell McGonagall he was looking for his Dad.

_ “We want to see Professor Dumbledore,” said Hermione, rather bravely, Harry and Ron thought. _

_ “See Professor Dumbledore?” Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. “Why?” _

_ Harry swallowed - now what? _

_ “It’s sort of a secret,” he said, but he wished at once he hadn’t, because Professor McGonagall’s nostrils flared. _

_ “Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago,” she said coldly. “He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once.” _

_ “He’s gone?” said Harry frantically. “Now?” _

_ “Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time.” _

“Of course, Professor. The Headmaster must be a very busy man.”

“Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow,” McGonagall said. “I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine.”

_ But they didn’t. _

_ “It’s tonight,” said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot.  _ “Quirrell’s found out everything he needs and now he’s got Dumbledore out of the way, too. We need to let Professor Snape know.”

“You need to let me know what?”

The three friends wheeled round. Snape was standing there.

“Professor! Quirrell knows how to get past Fluffy! Music puts him to sleep! Hagrid was tricked into telling a stranger in Hogsmeade about him but we’re sure it was actually Quirrell Hagrid was talking to!”

Snape’s expression didn’t change.

“You shouldn’t be inside on a day like this,” he said smoothly.  _ “You want to be more careful. Hanging around like this, people will think you’re up to something. And Gryffindor really can’t afford to lose any more points, can it?” _

They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.

_ “Be warned Potter - any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you.” _

_ He strode off in the direction of the staffroom. _

“He’s good,” said Ron in admiration, as they headed back outside. “If I didn’t know any better I would swear that he hates you Harry.”

“I know. It’s pretty unnerving sometimes.” Harry agreed.

They went back to sit under the tree again but Harry couldn’t relax.

“Calm down, Harry. Professor Snape knows what’s going on and he’ll take care of it.” Hermione said as she watched Harry pace back and forth across the grass.

“But what if he can’t?” Harry stopped and turned to face his friend’s. “What if he can’t get Dumbledore back here in time? It isn’t just Quirrell he will be facing, it’s the Dark Lord! Dumbledore’s the only one he’s afraid of and Dumbledore’s not here to stop him! I can’t just sit here and do nothing when my Dad might be going up against You-Know-Who alone! I’m going after him tonight.”

_ “You’re mad!” said Ron. _

“What do you expect to be able to do, Harry?” Hermione asked. “If Snape can’t stop him, how do you expect to do it.”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Harry shouted. “But I was the one who stopped him last time. Maybe I can do it again. All I know is that I can’t just do nothing! There’s too much at stake here! If Quirrell succeeds tonight then You-Know-Who will be back and I’m dead anyways because I’m never going over to the Dark Side! I’m going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two can say is going to stop me! The Dark Lord killed my parent’s and I’m not just going to let him kill my Dad too!”

_ He glared at them. _

_ “You’re right, Harry,” said Hermione in a small voice. _

_ “I’ll use the Invisibility Cloak,” said Harry. “It’s just lucky I got it back.” _

_ “But will it cover all three of us?” said Ron. _

_ “All - all three of us?” _

_ “Oh, come off of it, you don’t think we’d let you go alone?” _

_ “Of course not,” said Hermione briskly. “How do you think you’d get to the Stone without us? I’d better go and look through my books, there might be something useful.” _

The three friends were preparing to sneak out of the common room after the other students had drifted off to bed, when a voice came from the corner of the room.

_ “What are you doing?” Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he had been making another bid for freedom. _

_ “Nothing, Neville, nothing,” said Harry, hurriedly putting the cloak behind his back. _

_ Neville stared at their guilty faces. _

_ “You’re going out again,” he said. _

_ “No, no, no,” said Hermione. “No, we’re not. Why don’t you go to bed, Neville?” _

_ “You can’t go out,” said Neville, “you’ll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble.” _

_ “You don’t understand,” said Harry, “this is important.” _

_ But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do something desperate. _

_ “I won’t let you do it,” he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. “I’ll - I’ll fight you!”  _

_ “Neville,” Ron exploded, “get away from that hole and don’t be an idiot -” _

“Listen, Neville,” Harry interrupted Ron. “This is important. Dumbledore has the Philosopher’s stone hidden in the castle, in the third floor corridor that is off limits this year. Quirrell is working for You-Know-Who and wants to get it to bring him back. I need to go and try to stop him. With Dumbledore in London, I’m probably the only one who can. Ron and Hermione are coming along to help me get to the Stone. I know this all sounds crazy but I swear it’s all true and that’s why we can’t let you stop us.”

Harry turned to Hermione. “Can you do something to get Neville out of our way?”

_ Hermione stepped forward. _

_ “Neville,” she said, “I’m really, really sorry about this.” _

_ She raised her wand. _

“Wait!” cried Neville. “You’re right that it sounds crazy and I’m probably crazy to believe you but I want to help too.”

“Come on then,” said Harry as he pulled out his cloak.

Soon the four children were creeping through the halls of the castle. It was awkward going with all of them under the invisibility cloak but they made it safely to the third floor corridor. The door was ajar.

“Well, there you are,” Harry said quietly,  _ “ _ Quirrell’s already got past Fluffy. Professor Snape was probably right behind him.

Underneath the cloak, Harry turned to the other three.

_ “If you want to go back, I won’t blame you,” he said. “You can take the cloak, I won’t need it now.” _

_ “Don’t be stupid,” said Ron. _

_ “We’re coming,” said Hermione. _

Neville shivered but spoke bravely. “I’m with you.”

Harry pushed the door open and found the three-headed dog awake, with a harp at its feet. He put Hagrid’s flute to his lips and blew. It worked and they were able to get past the dog to the trapdoor. Handing the flute to Hermione, Harry dropped into the darkness under the trapdoor. He landed on a large plant and called to the others to jump.

Ron followed right away and Neville followed shortly afterwards. Neville immediately stood up and struggled towards the wall, fighting the tendrils the plant had started to twist around his ankles.

“Don’t struggle,” he warned Ron and Harry, who had just realized that they were trapped. “It’s a Devil’s Snare.”

Neville grabbed Hermione as soon as she jumped down and pulled her to stand by the wall with him.

“The Devil’s Snare likes cold and damp and hates heat. We need a fire!” said Neville.

_ “Yes - of course - but there’s no wood!” Hermione cried, wringing her hands. _

_ “HAVE YOU GONE MAD?” Ron bellowed. “ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?” _

“Oh, right!” said Hermione and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and set a jet of blue flame at the plant. Harry and Ron were shortly able to pull themselves free and the plant tried to escape the light and warmth of the fire.

“Lucky we had you along, Neville,” said Harry as he joined them by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.

The four children made there way through a room with flying keys. Harry had no problem catching the right key for the door. It was looking really battered and couldn’t fly very well anymore. Then they found a giant chess set. Ron realized that they needed to take the place of the black chess pieces and play to get across the room.

Ron directed Harry to take the place of the bishop and Hermione and Neville those of the rooks. He then took the place of one of the knights and the game started. Finally, Ron sacrificed himself to open Harry’s path to the white king. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear.

“You two go ahead,” said Neville. “I’ll stay here and look after Ron.”

Harry and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway. Through the next door they found an unconscious troll. Quickly passing through the room they next found Snape’s trap. A line of potions and a logic puzzle to help them discover which one was the one they needed to drink to move forward.

When Hermione solved the puzzle they found that there was only enough of the potion left for one person so, Harry took it and sent Hermione back to Ron and Neville. Harry drank the potion and stepped through the black flames barring his way. Soon he was on the other side in the last chamber. Both Snape and Quirrell were there, so intent on each other that neither had noticed his arrival.

“I won’t let you take the Stone, Quirrell.” Snape declared, glaring at the wizard in front of him.

A high voice spoke, it was coming from Quirrell but it wasn’t his voice. “You would betray me ... Severus?”

Snape paled as the voice went on. “Let the traitor see me … face to face …”

Harry watched as Quirrell unwrapped his turban. What was going on? What had his Dad so frightened? The turban fell away. Quirrell turned slowly on the spot.

_ Harry would have screamed, but he couldn’t make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell’s head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake. _

“My Lord,” Snape fell to his knees and bowed his head, “forgive me. I did not realize - I thought that Quirrell was only a greedy fool who desired the Stone for his own gain. If I had known he was in your service I would never have stood in his way.”

“You will be able to ... prove yourself soon, but first ...” Harry shivered at the menace in the high voice. “Quirrell … punish him.”

Quirrell turned and raised his wand to point it at Snape. “Crucio,” he said and Snape screamed as he writhed in pain.

Harry cried out, drawing Quirrell’s attention to his presence.

“Potter, I wondered if I’d be meeting you here. How ironic, Severus worked so hard to save you from my jinx at the Quidditch match and you have already wasted his efforts. After all that, I’m going to kill you tonight.”

_ Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry. _

_ “Now wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror.” _

_ It was only then that Harry realized what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised. _

_ “This mirror is the key to finding the Stone,” Quirrell murmured, tapping his way around the frame. “Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this.” _

Quirrell spoke to Snape. “You are closer to Dumbledore than I am. Do you know how he concealed the Stone?”

Snape sneered at Quirrell from where he lay on the floor, shaking, but then Voldemort spoke again from the back of Quirrell’s head.

“Answer him Severus ... or feel my wrath.”

“My Lord, I’m afraid I know nothing about the mirror. Dumbledore didn’t tell anyone what he had done with the Philosopher’s Stone.” 

Snape pulled himself back up onto his knees as he spoke, managing to put himself between Harry and the others while he did it.

“You disappoint me ... Severus.”

_ Harry’s mind was racing. _

_ ‘What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment, he thought, is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. So if I look in the mirror, I should see myself finding it - which means I’ll see where it’s hidden!’ _

Harry’s thoughts were interrupted by his Dad’s screams. Quirrell had cast Crucio again.

“Use the boy … Use the boy ...” Voldemort hissed.

_ Quirrell rounded on Harry. _

_ “Yes - Potter - come here.” _

_ He clapped his hands once, and the ropes binding Harry fell off. Harry got slowly to his feet. _

_ “Come here,” Quirrell repeated. “Look in the mirror and tell me what you see.” _

Harry walked towards Quirrell, not daring to look at his Dad as he passed him.

_ ‘I must lie,’ he thought desperately. ‘I must look and lie about what I see, that’s all.’ _

Harry stepped in front of the mirror and looked.  _ He saw his reflection, pale and scared looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at him. It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back into its pocket - and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his real pocket. Somehow - incredibly - he’d gotten the Stone. _

_ “Well?” said Quirrell impatiently. “What do you see?” _

_ Harry screwed up his courage. _

_ “I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore,” he invented. “I - I’ve won the House Cup for Gryffindor.” _

Snape sneered from where he lay on the ground behind Harry. “The boy is useless. How could he possibly unlock the mystery of Dumbledore’s hiding place. My Lord let me look in the mirror. I know how Dumbledore’s mind works. Perhaps I can succeed where Quirrell has failed.”

Snape stumbled to his feet and pushed past Harry to stand in front of the mirror.

“The boy lies ... He lies …” Voldemort said.

Harry tried to back away from Quirrell but his legs wouldn’t move.

“Impossible!” cried Snape. “My Lord, how could the boy have succeeded in discovering the Stone! He is worthless, arrogant, concerned only with his own fame! Winning the House Cup is the full sum of his ambitions! There is no way that he was able to penetrate Dumbledore’s trick so quickly!”

Harry took advantage of the distraction to back towards the exit, intent on escaping with the Stone.

“Severus … you forget yourself … you have let your hatred of the boy blind you ...” Voldemort said.

“I’m sorry my Lord, you are right, I forgot myself.” Snape knelt before Quirrell again, head bowed.

Snape screamed in agony as Quirrell cast Crucio again, on Voldemort’s orders. Quirrell then walked backwards towards the retreating Harry, so that Voldemort could still see the young wizard.

“Give me the Stone boy …”

_ “NEVER” _

_ Harry sprang toward the flame door but Voldemort screamed “SEIZE HIM!” and the next second, Harry felt Quirrell’s hand close on his wrist. At once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Harry’s scar; his head felt as though it was about to split in two; he yelled struggling with all his might, and to his surprise Quirrell let go of him. The pain in his head lessened - he looked round wildly to see where Quirrell had gon, and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers - they were blistering before his eyes. _

_ “Seize him! SEIZE HIM!” shrieked Voldemort again, and Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands around Harry’s neck - Harry’s scar was almost blinding him with pain, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony. _

_ “Master, I cannot hold him - my hand - my hands!” _

_ And Quirrell though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms - Harry could see they looked burned, raw, red and shiny. _

_ “Then kill him, fool, and be done!” screeched Voldemort. _

_ Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell’s face - “ _

_ “AAAARGH!” _

_ Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and then Harry knew: Quirrell couldn’t touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain - his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him from doing a curse. _

_ Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm, and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off - the pain in Harry’s head was building - he couldn’t see - he could only hear Quirrell’s terrible shrieks and Voldemort’s yells of, “KILL HIM! KILL HIM!” _

Then he heard another voice cry, “Harry!” and he felt Quirrell’s arm being wrenched from his grasp.

“It’s alright, Harry! The Dark Lord is gone, he fled, abandoning Quirrell to his fate. You’re safe.”

Harry realized that it was his Dad talking to him. He was safe in his Dad’s arms. Harry relaxed and let the waiting darkness claim him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neville accompanies the others at my daughters request. She thinks the Devil's Snare should be Neville's challenge.


	14. Nonsense with the House Cup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry recovers from his encounter with Voldemort. Dumbledore is unnecessarily dramatic with assigning house points.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the final chapter. I want to thank my son and daughter, again for beta reading this fic and putting up with me brainstorming ideas with them over the past month. I have started on Chamber of Secrets but I have been busy because of the holidays so I'm going to wait until a week into the new year before I start posting it. By then I should have a reasonable buffer again.
> 
> As always, italics are direct quotes from the books.

When Harry woke up again he wasn’t sure where he was at first. He blearily looked around the dimly lit room and saw his Dad sleeping in a chair beside the bed he was lying on. Harry realized that he was in the hospital wing and the memories of what had happened came flooding back. He tumbled out of the bed, into his Dad’s lap, waking the wizard up.

“Hello Harry. It’s good to see you awake.” His Dad said, sounding relieved.

Harry sat up in his Dad’s lap, looking at him with concern.

“Dad! Are you ok? And Ron, do you know how he’s doing? He took a pretty bad hit to the head in that chess game!”

“Harry calm down. I’m fine and so is Ron. Madam Pomfrey patched him up and he’s completely recovered. He and Hermione will be glad to hear that you are awake.”

“How long have I been in here?”

“Two days. Your friends have been worried about you.”

What happened? I remember grabbing Quirrell and it hurting him but then everything is a blur. You said that You-Know-Who had fled?”

“Yes, he could not stand your touch, your mother’s protection still holds, even after all these years. Dumbledore has the stone now. He arrived shortly after I pulled you off of Quirrell. I’m glad I was there with you, if Dumbledore arrived too late - the effort involved in keeping Quirrell from the stone could have killed you ...” Snape stopped talking for a moment and shuddered at the thought.

“If you have any more questions I would suggest that you leave them for the headmaster. He should be in to see you in the morning. In the meantime you should try to get some more sleep.”

Snape helped Harry back into the bed, where Harry obediently settled down.

“Good night, Dad.”

As he drifted off he felt his Dad’s hand on his hair and heard him murmur, “Good night, Harry,” in response.

Harry next woke up to bright sunlight and Dumbledore standing over him.

“Good morning, Harry,” said Dumbledore.

Harry stared at him and then remembered the questions he wanted to ask.

“What happened to the Stone, Sir?”

“No need to worry boy, Professor Quirrell did not manage to take the Stone from you. You and Professor Snape prevented him from doing so. Although the effort involved could have killed you if Snape had not been there. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed.”

_ “Destroyed? Said Harry blankly. “But your friend - Nicolas Flamel -” _

_ “Oh, you know about Nicolas?” said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. “You did do the thing properly, didn’t you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it’s all for the best.” _

_ “But that means he and his wife will die, won’t they?” _

_ “They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die.” _

_ Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry’s face. _

_ “To one as young as you, I’m sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.” _

_ Harry lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling. _

_ “Sir?” said Harry, “I’ve been thinking … Sir - even if the Stone’s gone, You-Know-Who -” _

_ “Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” _

Harry considered this for a moment. It was easy for Dumbledore to say that he should use the Dark Lord’s name. Everyone knew that the headmaster was the only one that the Dark Lord had ever feared. Others had good reason to fear the name, as well as the dark wizard it belonged to. Harry’s Dad and Moony had told him about the consequences of using the Dark Lord’s name, and drawing his attention, during the war.

_ “Yes, sir,”  _ Harry reluctantly said,  _ “Well, Voldemort’s going to try other ways of coming back, isn’t he? I mean he hasn’t gone, has he?” _

_ “No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share … not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time - and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power.” _

Harry nodded, then stopped because the motion made his head hurt. He looked around and noticed the table by his bedside, piled high with candy, for the first time.

_ “Tokens from your friends and admirers,” said Dumbledore, beaming. “What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic and confiscated it.” _

After Professor Dumbledore left, Harry convinced Madam Pomfrey to let his friends in to visit him. Ron, Hermione and Neville came in accompanied by an unexpected visitor.

“Moony!” Harry cried, “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Of course I’m here, Harry. When Severus told me what had happened, I had to see that you were alright with my own eyes. How are you feeling?”

“My head kinda aches and I’m really tired. Otherwise, I feel fine.”

Lupin pushed Harry’s hair back and felt his forehead, examining his face carefully.

“I’ll go see if Madam Pomfrey has anything for the pain.” Lupin left to find the witch.

Hermione broke into speech as soon as Lupin had left.

_ “Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to - Dumbledore was so worried -” _

_ “The whole school’s talking about it,” said Ron. “What really happened?” _

So Harry told them about Quirrell and the mirror and the Stone and Voldemort. He told them about Snape being hit with the Crucio curse trying to protect him but he didn’t tell them about what Voldemort and his Dad had said to each other. He knew Ron and Hermione would understand, but with Neville there he didn’t want to give the wrong impression. Even with some details left out it was a thrilling tale. When Harry told them what was under Quirrell’s turban, Hermione screamed out loud and Neville blanched.

“So what happened to you three?” said Harry.

“Well, I got back all right,” said Hermione. “Neville had brought Ron around by the time I reached them and we were heading up to the owlery when we met Dumbledore in the entrance hall - he already knew - he just said “Harry’s gone after him, hasn’t he?” and hurtled off to the third floor.”

_ “Do you think that he meant for you to do it?” said Ron. “ Sending you your father’s cloak and everything?” _

_ “Well,” Hermione exploded, “if he did - I mean to say - that’s terrible - you could have been killed.” _

“But surely, Dumbledore wouldn’t do that, would he?” said Neville. “I mean, even with Professor Snape there you were in a lot of danger. Facing You-Know-Who …”

“I think he did,” said Harry thoughtfully. “ _ He’s a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don’t think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It’s almost like he thought I had the right to face You-Know-Who if I could. _ It was a totally idiotic thing to do of course but that wouldn’t stop him.”

_ “Yeah, Dumbledore’s off his rocker, all right,” said Ron proudly. “Listen, you’ve got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course - you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you - but the food’ll be good.” _

“I hope I’ll be able to go,” said Harry. “Listen, don’t say anything to Professor Snape or Mr. Lupin about Dumbledore setting this up for me to face You-Know-Who, please.”

“No fear, I’m not going to be talking to Snape and I don’t even know Mr. Lupin.” Neville said, looking at Harry oddly. It was clear he was puzzled by why Harry would even bring it up.

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a headache potion and chased Harry’s visitors out.

The next day Harry managed to convince Madam Pomfrey to let him out of bed in time for the end-of-year feast. The great hall was decorated in Slytherin’s colours to celebrate Slytherin winning the House Cup for the seventh year in a row. Harry sat down conscious of the stares of the other students. He understood why he was getting so much attention but it was a relief when Dumbledore started to speak.

_ “Another year gone!” Dumbledore said cheerfully. “And I must trouble you with an old man’s wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were … you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts … _

_ “Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with  _ two hundred and ninety-two points,  _ in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two.” _

_ A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Harry could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table.  _ He looked at the head table and saw his Dad smile at yet another Slytherin victory.

_ “Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin,” said Dumbledore. “However, recent events must be taken into account.” _

‘What is he up to now?’ Harry wondered as the room went still.

_ “Ahem,” said Dumbledore. “I have a few last minute points to dish out. Let me see _ . Yes…

_ “First - to Mr. Ronald Weasley …” _

_ Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn. _

_ “... for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor House fifty points.” _

Harry groaned to himself as the other Gryffindor’s cheered. Why did Dumbledore insist on being so dramatic. Those points could have been awarded any time in the last three days.

_ “Second - to Miss Hermione Granger … for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points. _

_ “Third - to Mr. Harry Potter …” said Dumbledore. “For pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House sixty points.” _

The Gryffindors were beside themselves, they were only ten points short of the Slytherins.

_ “Finally, to Mr. Neville Longbottom for his knowledge of Herbology and quick thinking under pressure I award thirty points to Gryffindor House.” _

_ “Which means,” Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, “we need a little change of decoration.” _

As the hangings in the great hall changed to scarlet and gold Harry sat quietly among his cheering housemates. Malfoy looked stunned and horrified and Harry knew that the other boy was going to hate him more than ever now. He looked up at the Head Table and watched his Dad shake Professor McGonagall’s hand, with a horrible forced smile. Harry gave his Dad a apologetic smile when their eyes met. Dumbledore’s nonsense with the House Cup was going to put his Dad in a foul mood for the next few days. Harry found himself very annoyed with Dumbledore, why couldn’t he have awarded these points immediately, instead of waiting until the last moment.

When the exam results came in Harry and Ron found that they had passed with good marks. Harry did particularly well in potions. Hermione, of course, had the best grades of the first years. Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. Harry offered to tutor Neville in Potions the next year. He felt rather guilty about Neville’s poor mark since he figured it was at least in part because of the disruptions he caused in class through the year.

Soon they were on the train home, pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King’s Cross station. As they waited for their turn to leave the station, Ron promised to invite Harry and Hermione to his place over the summer. The three friend passed through the gate together and bid each other goodbye as they went their separate ways.

A few days later, Harry had a conversation with his Dad about what had happened. (After Snape had finally been coaxed out of his bad mood over the House Cup nonsense.) There was one thing that Harry was still curious about.

“Dad, what did you see in the mirror?”

“I saw you and your mother, together, happy and safe.”

“Weren’t you there too. Everyone else saw themselves in the mirror?”

“No, if Lily was alive and with you, I would have my heart’s desire, whether or not I was there.”


End file.
